


The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown

by Dock872210



Category: Dungeons & Dragons - All Media Types, Overlord - Maruyama Kugane & Related Fandoms
Genre: Adventuring, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Divine Politics, F/M, ISOT, Set in Forgotten Realms, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 22:01:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 36
Words: 165,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21716242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dock872210/pseuds/Dock872210
Summary: Drawn by the unknown forces into another world, Suzuki Satoru, player name Momonga in the DMMO-RPG YGGDRASIL finds his path to the familiar New World halted and redirected elsewhere. These are his adventures in his new destination in the Forgotten Realms as his walks the path to achieve his greater apotheosis.
Relationships: Ainz Ooal Gown | Momonga/Albedo, Ainz Ooal Gown | Momonga/Shalltear Bloodfallen
Comments: 12
Kudos: 41
Collections: Outsiderverse





	1. Realmfall 1: The Bone Father Cometh

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Realmfall**

**Chapter 1: The Bone Father Cometh**

**Beta:**

* * *

Suzuki Satoru, player name Momonga in the DMMO-RPG (Dive Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) YGGDRASIL, sat on the Throne of Kings in his guild base, the Great Tomb of Nazarick, and lamented the impending shutdown of the game.

 _In just a few minutes, YGGDRASIL will be coming to an end._ Suzuki thought as he surveyed the opulent throne room.

To an outsider this would appear as if a pair of dark red glowing orbs that passed for his eyes moved from left to right of his empty eye sockets, for Momonga, his avatar, was an Overlord. A high level type of undead in YGGDRASIL that was an undead skeleton creature who was devoid of skin and flesh. It was dressed in an elaborate, jet-black academic gown adorned with golden and violet edges and had a dark red orb floating under his ribs that emanated a feeling of dread.

This dread figure sat on the Throne of Kings, a super rare World Item of YGGDRASIL. It was made from a single gigantic mass of obsidian whose back was high enough to touch the ceiling. The Throne was one of the most powerful and legendary items in the game which possessed massive power that could potentially threaten its balance. This was justified in the game lore of YGGDRASIL with the story that they were forged out of the leaves of the World Tree. Said tree was once covered with a countless number of leaves, but one day a gigantic monster appeared and devoured these leaves. The leaves were destroyed one by one, until only nine were left, making the Nine Worlds of YGGDRASIL. World Items like the Throne of Kings were said to be made from remnants of those other leaves, each equivalent to a world in power.

Next to him floated an ornate staff entwined by seven serpents and held in each of the squirming serpents' mouths was a jewel of a different color. Its grip had a transparent quality like crystal and emitted a bluish white light. This was the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Guild Weapon of the guild of which Momonga was the leader. As a symbol of their guild's might and power, it naturally was designed with supreme quality in mind.

Ahead of this scene and what Momonga surveyed was the Throne Room of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. The room itself was an exquisite piece of work consisting of a wide room large enough for several hundred people, with a high ceiling and surrounding walls that were predominantly white, with golden decorations as highlights. Hanging from the ceiling were numerous chandeliers made of precious stones of all colors of the rainbow which emitted a fantastic, dreamlike radiance. Numerous flags emblazoned with different symbols, one for each of his guildmates, hung from flagpoles embedded into the walls.

It was to these flags that Momonga's attention shifted.

Naming them as his eyes passed over each of the unique symbols, his mind was filled with recollections of the good times he had with the friends they represented in the past. All forty of them. These were old memories however. Out of all the 41 members in the guild, 37 of them had already quit the game for good. Many of them long ago. In these, the final moments of the game that Momonga had poured the last few years of his life into, there was no one to provide him company.

 _And once the servers go down. I will once more be completely alone._ Satoru thought to himself with a depressed little sigh.

Back in the real world, his life was an utter mess. He was nothing but a wage slave of a salaryman working in one of the megacorporations that dominated the world and lived in a world where the sky was always hidden behind black smog and the sun making only brief appearances. A wasteland where thick, toxic fog frequently covered the cities and no one went out without wearing a gas mask beforehand. It was a hellish existence and one which he had sought to escape by playing YGGDRASIL. But that unfortunately was coming to an end.

 _Not yet though._ Satoru reminded himself as his eyes drifted away from the flags of his former comrades and to the NPCs kneeling before him: the Iron Butler Sebas Tian, the Pleiades battle maids and the Guardian Overseer and commander of the NPCs, Albedo.

Of these, his eyes zeroed in on Albedo in particular. She was an impeccable beauty with lustrous jet-black hair and the face of a goddess. She had golden irises and vertically split pupils; growing from her temples were two thick horns protruding crookedly, and on her waist were a pair of black angel wings. Dressed in a pure white dress with silky gloves covering her slender hands and a golden spiderweb necklace that covered her shoulders and chest, she was every man's dream woman. But her beauty was not what held his attention. No, that honor went to the black wand with a black sphere was floating in the air that she held in her hands. This was no less than the World Item, Ginnungagap. An item that she should not have.

As powerful and valuable as World Items were, they were stored exclusively in the Treasury. The only two exceptions were the Throne of Kings which was immovable from its position in the Throne Room and his own personal World Item.

 _Tabula Smaragdina must have secretly equipped her with it when no one noticed._ Momonga mused, thinking back on his guildmate and Albedo's creator. _I must have only noticed it now because it's been ages since I've actually visited the Throne Room._

Being the last active player in the guild for the last few years was not easy. In order to keep the Great Tomb, the Guild Base, functioning required a significant amount of in game currency and resources. To meet these needs and thus keep Nazarick in the shape that his beloved guildmates remembered it, Momonga had spent almost all of his time in game since the others began leaving simply farming gold and resources. Thus most of the time he spent in Nazarick was in the Treasury when he was dropping off the fruits of his labor.

_If Tabula did something as mischievous as 'stealing' a World Item from the Treasury to equip his NPC… Hmm… Yes! I think this justifies me having some fun with her in recompense. He did love his carefully crafted backstories, so I suppose I shall start there._

Opening Albedo's biodata, he was surprised by the length of her backstory. Just a glance at the scroll bar alone told him that it had to be many, many pages long.

 _Knowing Tabula I bet it's full of references to gap moe and the occult_. Satoru chuckled. _This is too long to finish reading in time before the shutdown though, so let's just skip to the end._

Doing just that with an impish air, Momonga found it ended with a single line that almost seemed tacked on.

' _She is also a nymphomaniac'? How fitting for the gap moe logic to have a poised supremely powerful demon be plagued by such a temperament. How Tabula._ Suzuki chuckled to himself even harder even as he deleted the line and replaced it with one of his own.

' _And is deeply in love with Momonga.' There much better. I do hope Tabula will not fault me for making this change should he ever find out._

With his last minute change done, Suzuki glanced at his in game clock.

**23: 59: 56**

"All Hail Ainz Ooal Gown!" Momonga shouted as one last farewell to the happiest years of his life. A time where he'd managed to enjoy true friendship.

**23: 59: 57**

**23: 59: 58**

**23: 59: 59**

Closing his eyes, he awaited the inevitable.

**00: 00: 00**

Only the end never came.

**00: 00: 01**

Satoru had expected that at the stroke of midnight that there would be some kind of parting message to pop up on his UI or just a simple server disconnect notification, but none of that happened. In fact, all that happened as the clock past ran midnight and he opened his eyes was that his UI had entirely disappeared.

"What? A glitch? Or did they push the shutdown- " Momonga shouted, all but leaping from the Throne of Kings in agitation even as something else caught his attention. "My voice?"

Adding to his growing shock, his voice had suddenly become much deeper than he recalled.

"My Lord, is something the matter?" Albedo asked in concern, causing Satoru to spin towards her in shock.

YGGDRASIL NPCs didn't talk. At least not so freely. You could script them with certain lines of dialogues, even upload audio files if you so desired. But these were always limited things and he was sure that Tabula had not added anything close to what Albedo said. At least not in tone. Even more unbelievable was the facial expressions, the genuine look of concern on her face and those of Sebas Tian and the Pleiades Maids. Such realistic detail was simply impossible for YGGDRASIL's engine. It was why Players used emoticons to emote!

 _Impossible! What is going on here?_ Suzuki cried out in alarm, stumbling back and falling back onto the Throne of Kings.

He didn't feel pain but he did feel the texture of the World Item's surface, of the way the fabric of his robes moved against his body. Things that again should have been impossible for the YGGDRASIL engine.

 _The GMs. The GMs_ must _know what's going on!_

" **GM Call!** " Momonga cast with the full might of his power.

At his invocation an aura of light surrounded him, before suddenly the world froze and began fading to white.

_This isn't how GM Call works!_

Usually, all it did was open a chat window to one of YGGDRASIL's GMs. That's all.

"That might be how it worked in the game, but this isn't a game anymore Momonga." A white, featureless man said as he appeared out of nowhere to stand just ahead of Satoru's avatar.

"Oh, and it isn't your avatar anymore, Satoru-san. It's your body now."

"Who are you and what are you talking about!?"

"The name's Nameless," the strange man said with a grin that revealed gleaming white teeth. "And I'm currently taking on the role of a Random Omnipotent Being."

"Is this a joke!?" Satoru demanded.

"Oh, it's very real I assure you, Momonga." Nameless said with a chuckle. "You see I've selected you out of the infinite possible individuals throughout the many multiverses of Creation to be my test subject for a little isekai experiment I want to carry out."

"I don't want that! I don't want to be transported to another world!" Suzuki all but screamed in anger that seemed to magically seep out of him almost as soon as it entered his system.

"That's your new undead emotional suppressor at work," Nameless told him. "It'll suppress any strong emotions that you might have. As for not wanting to be transported to another world, it's too late for that. It's done. Besides, would you _really_ prefer to remain on your Earth where the world is polluted beyond repair, where you are living an empty life while working a dead end job and where even your last escape has disappeared?"

Momonga had no reply. _He's right. Is it_ really _worth it to stay on Earth?_

"Not that you have a choice in this mind you," Nameless said, cutting into Momonga's thoughts. "Your body on Earth has already died by this point, I made sure of that. And even if it was still alive or I resurrected it, I still wouldn't send you back. Your choice simply doesn't matter here."

"T-that's not fair," Momonga said, only able to reply thanks to his emotional suppressor so shaken was he by the news of his death on Earth.

"Life is rarely fair, Momonga. Shouldn't you have realized that by now after the kind of life you've led?"

Momonga said nothing. He was unwilling to voice his agreement to the tyrant playing with his life for his own entertainment. Not that it stopped the asshole from plucking the thought from out of his mind anyway.

"Oh, yes. I _am_ using you for my entertainment. Among other things. That said, I'm not totally heartless about it. Unlike some of my colleagues I will not be dropping you into the deep end and force you to fight or die. No, I'm going to give you a helluva a starting bonus in his new world."

"Nazarick," Momonga reasoned.

"That and more," Nameless said with a grin as he plucked something from out of thin air and Momonga somehow felt himself be diminished. "But I'll handle the 'more' part. A little time travel, a little poaching from other Realms, a dash of binding things to this pearl of your essence and you'll have all the resources you'll ever need!"

"What do you mean?"

"Uh huh, no fishing Momonga." Nameless said chidingly. "Though I suppose I can give you a bone. Here's a _very_ obvious hint to your first challenge: Atropus is coming."

The name stirred some distant recollection but Momonga couldn't place it and Nameless seemed disappointed by that fact.

"Check that library of yours," the ROB said with a sigh. "I'm sure your Guildmates uploaded all the relevant resources you'll need. They certainly used plenty of it for their various projects. But that's the last of my hints to you, Momonga."

"Wait-"

Momonga's desperate plea for more clarification was cut off, when with a lazy wave of his hand the ROB dismissed him.

"Entertain me, Momonga. Or else!" The now monstrously inhuman voice of Nameless screamed into Momonga's mind as his perception returned to the Throne Room.

"Lord Momonga?" Albedo said, inching hesitantly closer to him.

Momonga closed his eyes for a second, processing all he'd learned and lamented the situation he was stuck in. When he opened them however all his unease was buried. He had work to do if he wanted to survive, and undead monster now or not, he wanted to live!

"Albedo!" He barked with a voice full of all the authority he could put into it. "I have orders-"

* * *

Moments before Momonga and the Great Tomb of Nazarick was pulled into their new world, in the blasted ruins of what ages untold ago had been the Tokyo arcology a beautiful young girl with blonde hair and brown eyes, dressed in a gray buttoned, cold shoulder midi dress with a shirt collar stood amidst the ruins and commanded her legion of undead in a skirmish with a Sliver swarm.

This girl was Enri Emmott, a Momon. A child of the Bone Father.

"The Slivers are aggressive today," Enri noted with a grin as the arrow headed creatures fought with uncommon ferocity. "Did they develop a new breed that heightens it?"

"We have not observed any new breeds, Lady Momon." The elder lich that served as her adjutant informed her. "Perhaps they are simply trying new tactics?"

Enri nodded, that was plausible. All the creatures of their world, of Felmid, knew instinctively that they needed to constantly improve themselves in all ways so that they could best serve the Bone Father when he descended. It was the entire reason behind their constant skirmishing, they were training exercises to prepare for the day their god would send them out to war in his name.

"That the Slivers are experimenting with tactics rather than just spawning new breeds to enhance their capabilities is a good sign." Enri concluded as she saw a massively over muscled brute of a creature that she knew as a Muscle Sliver slam its twin gorilla like arms into the ranks of a cohort of her skeleton warriors and smashed them into pieces. "If we are to properly serve the Bone Father, we cannot afford to rely only on one strate-"

She cut herself short as a feeling of power. Of familiarity spread across their world. Immediately, she knew what was happening.

The Bone Father had arrived!

"Halt!" Enri ordered rather unnecessarily.

Everyone on the battlefield was already frozen. They had all felt the Bone Father's arrival. Everyone on Felmid had. Like her they had felt the pull to their god in their very soul

"Form up your ranks!" Enri ordered, as she quickly summoned the skeletal horse that served as her mount. "We must march to the Holy Land immediately!"

 _I must be the first there!_ The Momon thought as she swung up onto her steed with practiced ease. _If I am I'll be able to represent us Momons before the Bone Father!_

And what higher honor could there be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Welcome to my new project everyone!
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed the first chapter.
> 
> Some of you might notice some subtle differences from Overlord canon in the events preceding the ISOT and there's two reasons for that. One, it's to prevent plagiarism calls so I redid things my own way. This also means that when/if I do canon events that don't change I'll either skim or timeskip them unless what happens in them are relevant to the story's plot. What kind I mean should be obvious by the next chapter. Two, it's to show that this Suzuki Satoru is not the canon Suzuki Satoru, just one from a very close alternate dimension.
> 
> The constantly changing use of Satoru/Momonga's two names might be a bit confusing, so let me explain my logic here. Whenever I used Satoru it was when the character was thinking of himself as a human. Whenever I used Momonga he was either role-playing his YGGDRASIL character or later in the chapter is seeing things from his new inhuman POV. Hopefully, this explains things for anyone that might have been confused.
> 
> As for Felmid... More will be explained in the next chapter and as the story progresses, but here's a short version that expands on Nameless' explanation in the chapter. Basically, the ROB thought Momonga needed some more help than just Nazarick so he decided to use that bit of essence he took from the poor guy and used it as a basis to create a world of creatures to serve him. Some forged from the essence itself like the Momons but mostly poached from other universes. Why give him such a massive starting bonus? Well, it's all about the role the ROB wants him to play. The series title is a big clue but if you haven't guessed then I'm not dropping anymore hints.
> 
> Edit: I've been getting reviews about the lack of a need for the ROB/Nameless. So I think I should explain a few things here. This story is not primarily about Ainz exploring the Forgotten Realms. This is at best a secondary theme. It is primarily about Ainz becoming a god of gods within a broader cosmology of a set of related stories. To that end the role of the ROB is vital as it provides the link to the broader cosmology and its intervention is designed to set in motion the events to set the story in the direction its needed i.e. Ainz's greater apotheosis hence the title. This might not be the story you thought you might find in this fic, that's fine. It is the story I want to tell though and that's honestly more important to the story.
> 
> Well that's it for me this chapter. Till next time, namárië!


	2. Realmfall 2: Meeting the Children

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Realmfall**

**Chapter 2: Meeting the Children**

**Beta:**

* * *

After testing his magic from YGGDRASIL worked and that he held the loyalty of the Nazarick Floor Guardians, a task that took him a couple hours, Momonga walked out of the Great Tomb escorted by all his Floor Guardians save Victim and Gargantua to check on what Sebas Tain had discovered on the minor scouting mission he'd sent the Iron Butler on.

As he walked towards the exit of the mausoleum that housed Nazarick's above ground entrance, he could already see that Sebas had been correct in reporting that the Tomb had been transported into a massive underground cavern. The Overlord could see the roof of the cavern in the far distance through the gaps between the colonnaded entrance to the mausoleum that housed the Tomb's entrance.

"Lord Momonga, is this wise?" Demiurge, the Arch-devil with dark skin and nicely combed black hair dressed in a British suit with a tie asked, his silver tail, covered with metal plates and six long spikes at the end waving in agitation. "There is an unknown army outside. It is not sa-"

"Be calm, Demiurge." Momonga said soothingly to the Floor Guardian of the Tomb's 7th Floor. "They are merely here to pay me homage and swear their fealty or did you not hear Sebas' report?"

"That is merely what they claim, my Lord. For all we know they might be lying."

"And if they are, I have you and the other Floor Guardians to ensure my safety." Momonga said, causing the rest of their party to preen. "Though I doubt that will be necessary. Or do you doubt my judgement in this matter?"

"O-Of course not, O Supreme One! I would nev-"

"Peace, Demiurge. I understand your concern but trust in my wisdom." Momonga stopped to comfort the devil, allowing the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown that he carried with him to float freely for a moment whilst he laid a comforting hand on the Guardian's shoulder.

It was a risky move to bring the Staff whose destruction would mean the destruction of Nazarick however the Guardians had insisted he be armed to the best of his ability and that meant taking it along. It just meant he had to be very careful to keep the Staff out of danger.

"Always, my lord. Always."

Satisfied, Momonga released Demiurge and retaking the Staff continued walking towards the exit.

 _I wish I had his faith._ Momonga thought to himself, suppressing a sigh. The only reason he was making such a risky move as meeting the army at his doorstep was he had a suspicion that they were part of the starting bonus Nameless had claimed he was giving him. While he, of course, couldn't be certain of that, he was fairly sure and was willing to make the gamble. It was not like he had much of a choice. The army was by Sebas' reckoning massive and even if through sheer attrition alone could likely have overwhelmed Nazarick's defenses. If they were hostile they were doomed. But if they were friendly as they'd claimed…

Stepping out of the mausoleum and reaching the top of the steps leading up to it, Momonga surveyed the horde of monsters that surrounded Nazarcik. At his approach Sebas who had been keeping a watchful eye on these unknowns all this time, took his rightful place behind Momonga as a butler. At the same time, the swarm of monsters all fell into submissive postures at the sight of him.

Directly ahead of him, just outside the tomb complex that served as Nazarick's above ground level - if that still applied considering their current location - and the horde of Nazarick Old Guarder skeleton warriors that had risen to defend it should the need arise, stood legions of undead mainly Skeletons, but also other types up to and including the occasional Lich. At the head of these armies of the unliving stood a cluster of what appeared to be humans. But even at a glance, Momonga could tell that there was more to them than that.

As if sensing his curious gaze, as a body the 'humans' morphed into five meter tall humanoids with a body made of bone with pieces of what looked like withered plant material hanging off their bodies in manner that reminded him of the remains of flesh, with heads that were a perpetually flaming pyre within which floated their skulls. Their clothing, all heavily enchanted, shifting to accommodate their changed shape.

 _ **Data: Life. Data: Mana.**_ Momonga silently cast in quick succession, allowing him to view the HP and MP values of the creatures. Based on that and their general equipment, he guessed each of these unknown undead were relatively powerful creatures roughly equivalent to a level 80 creature by the standards of YGGDRASIL that specialized in magic of various kinds in addition to commander-type skills.

_A fitting combination for commanders of an undead host._

There was an expectant air surrounding the whole cavern and much as Momonga wished to survey more of the varied masses arrayed before him, he decided to speak. He didn't want to keep anyone waiting and risk setting them off.

"Rise, my loyal subjects." Momonga said, his voice somehow reaching to the furthest reaches of the cavern and beyond.

As one the monstrous masses stood and the leader of the strange undead that led the legions stepped ahead of her fellows.

"Oh great Bone Father, I am Enri Emmott of the Momons."

_Ah! So that's what they're caused. Judging by their name and what she calls me I think it's safe to assume Nameless forged them directly from that part of me he took._

"We the creatures of Felmid, have awaited this day, the descent of you, our god, since we were created from your essence eons ago."

_I guess that explains what he meant by time travel._

"Born of your power and your will, we live to serve you O great Supreme One!"

Next to him, Momonga sensed the Nazarick Floor Guardians shuffling as they heard this Enri creature's speech. He could only imagine how they were spinning what she was saying to add to whatever misinterpreted fantasies about his godly nature and power they themselves believed in.

_I wish I could correct them. But…_

Doing so would be a death sentence. And despite the madness that his life was becoming he still wanted to live. As such, he was forced to play the role of the Undead God-King instead.

"All hail the Bone Father!" Enri shouted, falling to one knee once more. "All hail the one true god of Felmid!"

Her cry was immediately picked up by the undead hosts at her back as they too once more fell into poses of supplication.

"We the Momons, your children, offer our existences and those of our legions to your service from now to the end of all things." Enri said with a booming voice that was soon joined by all the many undead she represented.

Startled by the sudden declaration, Momonga could only nod. That was however more than enough it seemed and with visible joy, Enri and the Momons stood.

Momonga was wondering what was going to happen next when a voice hissed into his mind.

 _All hail the Bone Father! All hail the one true god of Felmid!_ Came a telepathic hiss not unlike the sound that resounded in his head when using the **Message** spell in this strange new world.

Turning to the source of this cry, Momonga saw a creature with a long slender serpentine body that ended in a bifurcated tail with a pair of long sickles at the end of long arms and an arrowhead shaped head. It was surrounded by swarms of creatures which all shared the same arrowhead shaped heads, single taloned arms, serpentine bodies and bifurcated tails but which otherwise were greatly varied. Some had gems embedded in their skin that glowed with rainbow light. Others flew on membranous wings growing from their backs. And others still looked liked they were made of living crystal. These and many, many more all bowed to Momonga.

 _I, the Sliver Queen, the lady of the beasts of the earth,_ _swear my undying fealty and that of my children to our creator, the great god Momonga._

Momonga nodded in acceptance to the strange creature and felt a rush of excitement from it in return at his acknowledgement.

"All hail the Bone Father! All hail the one true god of Felmid!" A large flight of Dragons literally made out of various elements cried out in a mix of discordant roars next as with their heads bowed, they sat next to the Slivers.

"I am Deathwing, lord of the beasts of the air." The massive Dragon whose cracked earthen scales literally leaked molten lava and had metal plates bolted into his flesh along his back at the head of their ranks said, bowing his head even lower as he spoke. "And I too swear my undying fealty and that of my children to our creator, the great god Momonga."

Again Momonga offered the Dragons a nod, and like he had now come to expect yet another batch of the monsters took their turn to address him. This time they were the various aquatic creatures that filled a large lake. They were led by a massive jellyfish kaiju. Its hood had two large glowing red orbs and was covered in armored segments. Between the hood and the creature's many tentacles was a roughly spherical mass of shadows which churned with souls struggling to break free from their prison. Looking out of this darkness were a pair of malevolent humanoid eyes on either side of a wicked curved beak.

"O great god Momonga," the jellyfish said, its orbs pulsing as it manipulated sound to allow it to speak. "I Merwyrm, lord of the beasts of the depths swear my eternal loyalty and that of my subjects to you."

Momonga once more nodded and acting on some unknown instinct turned to the other side of the ranks of the Momons' legions where there was what looked to be a freshly dug tunnel. In the mouth of it, stood a quadrupedal mammal-like reptilian kaiju, with reddish-brown skin, a prominent horn on its head and floppy, dog-like ears. Its body was surrounded by a sickly blue aura made out of howling tormented souls. It was flanked on all sides by a host of bizarre creatures that carried many characteristics associated with a life underground.

With a deep bow and in a barely intelligible growl, the kaiju spoke. "Baragon, lord of the beasts of the Underdark pledges his service and those of his vassals to the great god Momonga for all eternity."

Like with those who had gone before him, Momonga gave Baragon a bow and turned to the last of the monstrous contingents arrayed outside Nazarick. These were a collection of plant people. They all looked different but each was clearly a plant or fungus of some kind that had taken a humanoid shape with Zombies or Skeletons or other undead creatures at the heart of their bodies. Towering over this walking forest was a single immensely tall specimen made of twisted roots and branches, a massive crown of leaves for hair, and a Skeleton in tattered robes seated in a wooden throne with roots entwined with its bones where a human head should have been.

"I Malwood," the lead plant creature began. "Lord of the plants hereby offer the undying service of all fauna on Felmid in perpetuity to the will of the great god Momonga."

Like with the others, Momonga offered Malwood a nod.

The moment he did, the moment he acknowledged the servitude of the last of Felmid's great lords, he suddenly found himself surrounded by an intense aura which swept out from him. Somehow he knew that it spread at an exponentially increasing speed until it had encompassed the whole planet and all the beings who inhabit it.

As it finally did so, Momonga felt himself connect to all life on Felmid. Be it the Momons or their lowest Skeletons or Deathwing or the least of the Slivers or the great leviathans in Merwyrm's service or the smallest burrowing insect within Baragon's dominion or the mindless fungi of Malwood's court, all were as much a part of him as his own body. In an instant, he knew everything there was to know about them. From their life histories, their abilities, their likes and dislikes. He knew them all better than he knew his own. He was them and they were he.

This wondrous experience should have overwhelmed him. Should have shattered his fragile human mind. Instead, he inexplicably felt that this was how it should always have been. All these myriad plants and fauna had been made from him and now were once more part of him as they should be.

All was right with the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hmm… Not too happy with this chapter to be honest. It was necessary as a stepping stone chapter but the delivery leaves something to be desired, yet I can't pin down what. Well, hopefully it was still readable and mildly entertaining.
> 
> Response to Clotho (guest) on FFN: I'm glad you like the story so far. Where Nazarick has been transported should be explained over time. As for cross-posting to Spacebattles, I won't do so. It's far too opinionated a forum for my tastes. I'll freely admit my skin is not thick enough for me to post there. Especially since I've already written the whole story at the time of posting and am not particularly open to changing anything. Minor things are fine but major rewrites are out of the question, a consideration that I doubt Spacebattles will respect. 
> 
> Here's a quick guide on the things I borrowed from other IPs:
> 
> The Sliver Queen = Sliver Queen from the Magic the Gathering franchise
> 
> Deathwing = Deathwing from the Warcraft franchise
> 
> Merwyrm = Tentacruel from the Pokemon franchise
> 
> Baragon = Baragon from the Godzilla franchise
> 
> Till next time, ukee lat!


	3. Realmfall 3: Cultural Immersion

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Realmfall**

**Chapter 3: Cultural Immersion**

**Beta:**

* * *

The experience of becoming one with the denizens of the world he resided upon, this Felmid, was a thrilling experience. It was a high unlike anything Momonga had ever experienced. As Satoru he'd been forced to consume the odd stimulant just to get by, often in regards to the long hours demanded by his job but none of the highs they gave came close to what he'd just experienced.

"I'm glad you liked it." The familiar voice of Nameless said.

As expected as Momonga came down from his high and regained a proper awareness from his surroundings, he found himself standing with the ROB in the empty void once more.

"Why are you here?" Momonga asked cautiously. "Why are continuing to interfere? Shouldn't ROBs leave things be once they've transported their victims?"

"That's our typical modus operandi yes." Nameless conceded. "However, that really only applies if the motive of ROB in question is solely entertainment. Otherwise, we interfere like crazy to ensure the outcome we want. I'm just more direct about it than most."

"And what outcome do you want me to achieve?"

"That would be spoilers." The featureless being said with a grin. "But what I _can_ do is throw you a bone."

The damnable ROB chuckled at his own bad joke but Momonga just rolled his eyes.

"Not in a joking mood I see?"

"Would you be if you were in my shoes?"

"I suppose not." Nameless admitted. "Very well, onto business then. You'll need to rally all the forces and muster all the resources at your disposal to face Atropus. And quickly. He is already on his way."

"And who is Atropus?"

"Find out. You'll really, really need to. Preferably before he shows up and it's too late."

With that last parting statement, Momonga was returned to the steps of Nazarick and in front of his army of subjects. It was jarring and it took all his self-control and the power of his emotional suppressor to keep from reacting. Sudden erratic movements would not fit with the mold of the Undead King that he was trying to project.

_To that end..._

"Thank you, my subjects, my children." Momonga said in as noble a voice as he could muster. Something helped along immensely by his new deep and booming voice. "I am honored to have the loyalty of such great and mighty creatures."

_Now how to buy the time I need to do the research Nameless wants me to?_

Momonga was no fool. He knew enough about isekai scenarios that if the ROB who dropped him in this new world wanted him to research something, warned him of the need to do so, twice even, then he needed to do it. As soon as possible.

_How to sell it to them though…_

"However, while I know you, all of you, like an extension of myself." Momonga continued, winging it as he went. "I know little of this universe we find ourselves in. For it was not the one from which we came nor any that I've previously walked. All I know of this world is the faintest memories of bygone tales. Thus it behooves me to arm myself with what knowledge of this world I can gather, so as to best lead us into the unknown."

Satoru expected the odd murmuring of shock, of awe, of discontent. He'd dropped quite a few bombshells on his people with just those short words alone. Yet there was none. All his subjects, be they denizens of Nazarick or the hordes of Felmid remained respectfully silent as Momonga spoke.

Buoyed by this, the Overlord continued.

"As such, I intend to head to Ashurbanipal, the Grand Library of the Great Tomb of Nazarick to scour it for everything and anything about this world that might be found in its depths."

 _Yeah, mainly just who or what the hell Atropus is. Though hopefully that will also offer clues to_ where _the hell we ended up._

"In the meantime, Floor Guardians!"

"Yes, Lord Momonga?" The Floor Guardians of Nazarick that had served as his escort said, falling to one knee as they awaited his command. "While I conduct my research, you are to acquaint yourselves with Felmid. I do not expect you to know my creation and my children as I do but you must strive to understand them as best as you are able. Abledo!"

"Yes, my lord?"

"You shall handle the deployment of the various Guardians."

"As you command, Supreme One."

Turning away from the succubus, Momonga faced the armies of Felmid once more.

"My children, treat these Guardians of Nazarick, these children of my beloved friends as you would treat me. They know my will and act with my authority."

"We hear and obey," the many monstrous creatures of Felmid said as one.

Nodding in satisfaction, Momonga used his Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown to teleport to the Great Tomb's Treasury. If he intended to carry out his little research project with any level of efficiency, he'd need help. Exceptional help. With Demiurge and Albedo, the two greatest minds of Nazarick already assigned different tasks, he was left with the last of the Tomb's great minds. His creation Pandora's Actor. That he felt reasonably safe to trust him with knowing his lack of knowledge was another major factor.

 _Fake it till you make it._ Satoru told himself encouragingly as he disabled the traps in the Treasury that protected its inner sanctum where Pandora's Actor resided. _I just need to fake it till I make it._

* * *

"A worldwalker." Demiurge crowed with delight as their master left. "I knew it! I knew that the Supreme Ones were worldwalkers!"

"Save your gloating for later, Demiurge." Albedo told the Devil chidingly as she strode forward to address the still assembled masses of Lord Momonga's children.

_To think that my love has already created a whole world! Truly he is magnificent._

"Children of Lord Momonga, do you respect my authority as Guardian Observer?"

The leaders of the various creatures exchanged looks before nodding towards the Momon representative who reverting to her human form addressed Albedo.

"We accept the authority the Bone Father has given you over us and respect you and your ilk as the keepers and protectors of his sacred home."

 _It's not quite full submission but it is good enough. We both still serve the same lord._ Albedo thought with a nod.

"Then let me carry out our lord's instructions and assign the various Floor Guardians to learn your ways."

"We await your command, Guardian Overseer."

_Let us begin with the easy ones._

"Mare! Aura!"

"Yes, Albedo." Aura said in a cheerful tone.

"Y-Yes?" Her twin brother Mare stuttered in his shy way.

The two were a pair of Dark Elf twins which served as the joint Floor Guardians of the 6th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and sported the dark skin and pointed ears that were the signature traits of their race. They both had golden hair and heterochromia. The latter was wherein the differences began. Where Aura's left eye was blue and her right eye was green, the inverse was true for Mare. Furthermore, Aura was a tomboyish child dressed in a reddish-black dragon scale leather vest covered by a white and gold vest embroidered with the sigil of Ainz Ooal Gown below which she wore matching set of white trousers and gold plated shoes, and around her neck was an acorn necklace emitting golden light. In contrast, Mare wore a blue dragon scale leather bodysuit, covered by a white and gold vest embroidered with the sigil of Ainz Ooal Gown, a forest green-leaf cloak, matching short white skirt that exposed his thighs, an acorn necklace emitting silver light and his slender hands covered with shiny white silk gloves that gripped his trusty staff of twisted black wood.

"I must apologize, but to cover more ground the two of you must split up to accomplish the mission Lord Momonga has assigned us."

The twins exchanged a look, before Aura nodded.

"We'll be fine. Don't worry about it." The more assertive of the twins said for them both.

"Very well," Albedo said with a pleased grin. "Mare, as you have always shown a particular care for plants, you are best suited to studying with Malwood."

"I-I'll do my best."

"I'm sure you will." Albedo told the shy boy reassuringly.

"Now, as for you Aura-"

"I'll go with Merwyrm." Aura said with a shrug.

"Not the Sliver Queen?"

"Cocytus called dibs on that. Plus I lost a round of 'Jankenpon' so he gets to have his choice."

_If they already used the Supreme Ones' game to decide among themselves, then who am I to doubt our gods' judgement?_

"I see, then so be it."

"Cocytus?"

"Yes. Overseer?" The two and half meter tall Guardian of the 5th Floor said.

Cocytus was an Insectoid with the appearance of an insect walking on two feet. Specifically he was a fusion between a mantis and an ant that had a tail twice as long as his height, and whose body was covered in sharp spikes that looked like icicles, the most pronounced of which protruded from his shoulders and back where they looked like uplifted icebergs had shot out of his body. In two of his hands he gripped a halberd, showcasing his nature as a warrior. Though it was more likely his Intectoid nature, that made him interested in the hive minded Sliver Swarm.

"As you wish, you will be assigned to the Sliver Queen and her Swarm."

"My. Thanks. Overseer." Cocytus said, clicking his strong mandibles in excitement and letting out a freezing breath in the process.

"Shalltear."

"Yes, Albedo?" The short statured Vampire with the figure of a buxom fourteen-year-old girl that served as the Floor Guardian of the first to third floors in the Great Tomb of Nazarick said in what barely escaped being a sneer.

_That brat… If we didn't have a crowd of outsiders here, I would totally put her in her place._

Unfortunately, they did have an audience and Albedo was unwilling to give anyone, much less the children of her beloved, the impression that Nazarick was anything but united.

"As an undead it is only fitting that you go learn about the Momons."

"But of course," Shalltear said with a smirk. "Good choice there, Albedo."

Ignoring the Vampire's biting sarcasm, Albedo just moved on.

"Demiurge, any preference?"

"I will learn the ways of Baragon and his ilk. While it is kind of you to give me a choice, Albedo, we both know that Sebas is best suited for working with Deathwing and his Dragons thanks to his own Dragonoid nature." The devil said, surprising all the other Guardians with his choice.

Demiurge giving anything to Sebas? Considering their hostility towards one another this was highly unexpected.

"Why the surprise my fellow Guardians?" The Devil said almost mockingly, the gems that served as his eyes glinting behind his glasses. "It is the most practical arrangement. And as you all know I am an eminently pragmatic individual."

"Indeed, you are." Albedo allowed, even as she tried to think of whatever ulterior motive Demiurge might have behind his choice. Pragmatic though the Floor Guardian of the 7th Floor may be, he was still a Arch-devil. It would not surprise her if hidden within his apparent pragmatic generosity were a dozen malicious motives.

_Though I see none for the moment._

"Very well, then it is decided. Demiurge will shadow Baragon while Sebas will do the same for Deathwing."

"Are there any objections?" Albedo asked, directing the question to both her fellow Guardians and the Lords of Felmid.

No one said a word.

"Guardians, Sebas, report to me all you have learned in a week's time. We will consolidate it and present it to Lord Momonga."

She received a chorus of affirmatives from her colleagues before continuing.

"Then let us carry out our Lord's will. You have your tasks. Get to them."

With that the Guardians and denizens of Felmid began to disperse. Albedo stood there for a moment observing them, making sure the former paired up with the latter as they'd agreed. Satisfied that all was going well, she turned to walk back into the Tomb. While the Guardians carried out their new mission, she had one of her own.

As Guardian Overseer she was in charge of Nazarick's security and she needed to make sure that the transition to this new world had not affected its systems. And if it did, learn what had changed.

_I must not disappoint the man I love._

* * *

"Lady Shalltear, you called for me?" Enri asked as she entered the drawing room of the residence she had arranged to be provided to the Bone Father's envoy and the entourage she had summoned.

The residence in particular was set up at the very top of highest spire of the ruined Tokyo Acropolis that was Enri's domain. In Lord Momonga's birthworld, it had been the site of the Tokyo Imperial Palace. High above that world's toxic clouds and carefully tended to the residence maintained a semblance of the natural beauty Earth had once boasted. It was also exceedingly luxurious, with every amenity the people of that decadent planet had imagined. All of which had carried over into Felmid largely untainted by the decay that touched all artificial constructs on the world, it was now made available to Lady Shalltear.

"Yes," the vampire said with a nod. "Now that I've settled in I want to get started and ask you some questions. Elder Liches are you ready?"

"We are at your command, Lady Shalltear." A pair of Elder Liches said. One was holding a long list of what Enri could only assume were questions, whilst the other was holding a quill and an equally long but blank piece of parchment.

"Good then start with the questions Albedo sent us," Lady Shalltear said, before grumbling.

Enri imagined she was upset at having to ask the Guardian's Overseer's questions. The Momon barely knew the Floor Guardian but she could already tell that she and her superior did not get along.

"First question," the Elder Lich with the list asked, cutting into Enri's thoughts. "Are the creatures of Felmid really the children of Lord Momonga?"

"In a sense." Enri answered truthfully. "Felmid and all who dwell on it were forged from the Bone Father's essence and shaped into our current forms by his dreams and nightmares."

"Dreams and nightmares?"

Enri nodded and gestured out a long window that dominated the room's far wall. Or more specifically the roiling toxic clouds that were visible through them.

"This world is a reflection of the Supreme One's birthworld."

Lady Shalltear startled at that. All the Nazarick denizens did.

"This ruined waste? You must be joking."

"No, my lady." Enri said with a serious shake of a head. "Felmid is indeed a reflection of Earth. A reflection shaped by the Bone Father's mind. Where its megacities and acropolises stood with their teeming masses of humans, most slaves to tyrannical masters, the Supreme One has in his infinite mercy reduced them to undead free of their petty free will and all the pain it brought them as they toiled in inhumane conditions. Of the masters, he created us Momons, his children, to oversee our less fortunate undead brethren and see to their well being."

"Truly, Lord Momonga is generous indeed." Lady Shalltear observed. "And why then did he transform the cities into ruins?"

"It is merely a reflection of their true nature, my lady." Enri explained. "Where once they were places of beauty hiding the darkness within. Places where the surface was utopian but whose underbelly was a cruel dystopia, now that lie has been stripped away and they are left as they always should have been: wastelands."

"To do such a thing, Lord Momonga is truly a genius" Lady Shalltear gushed.

"A genius without peer." Enri agreed.

"Okay, that's enough for this question." Lady Shalltear said after a moment.

* * *

"W-Why, um, is the land poisoned like that?" Mare asked Malwood while pointing to a badly cratered wasteland off in the distance, barely visible through the thick vegetation of the forest they walked through.

"That, my dear Guardian, is a direct import from the Supreme One's Earth."

"R-Really?"

"Yes," Malwood said with a sad nod. "I know little of the reasons why. Lord Momonga gave us little memory of what occurred on his birthworld when he created us, but what I know is that that blasted plain and all the wastelands of Felmid are duplicates of those on Earth. Which were in turn created by its people."

"P-People like Lord Momonga?"

"Some of them," the arboreal monster said with another nod. "But while they might have shared our Lord's power, they shared none of his wisdom."

"D-Did he try to stop them?"

"You will have to ask Lord Momonga that yourself, Guardian. What I do know is that when he created Felmid he duplicated these wastelands as reminders to us, his children, to never repeat the folly of the people of Earth."

"Lord Momonga is wise."

"The wisest." Malwood agreed. "He even tasked us to repair what was destroyed wherever possible. A task that would only further reinforce the lesson."

"Is that why you are growing this forest?" Mare asked, gesturing to the many plant monsters under Malwood's command that moved industriously all around them as they planted and tended to new plants and fungi of all types, both mundane and magical.

_I suppose that's the answer to question six about whether all plants and fungi on this world were monsters like Malwood._

"Yes," the Lord of Plants said. "Once on Earth, this place was called the Amazon Rainforest. One of the largest and most bio-diverse wildernesses on the planet, but the foolish Earthlings destroyed it. I've taken it on as my task to bring back at least some of the Amazon's glory."

"That's a noble goal. Maybe I can, uh, help you? If Lord Momonga allows it of course."

"If Lord Momonga permits."

* * *

"But Lord Momonga never told us anything about you lot. He didn't even know you guys existed until we came here." Aura said as she swam on the back of one of her few aquatic beasts, a monstrous spiny shark called Megalodon. An item allowing her to both breathe and speak freely underwater. "How could he give you orders if he didn't know all that?"

"Time flows differently for gods," Merwyrm told her as they swam side by side through the depths of Felmid's oceans. "In the moment that we swore fealty to him, he went back into the distant past to create us. In that way, he created a series of events that led to the moment where we swore our undying loyalty to him."

"That sounds complicated." Aura noted with a frown.

"For lesser beings like us perhaps, but Lord Momonga is a god. Such things are trivialities to the likes of him."

"That's true." Aura agreed easily, before her eyes widened at the sight before her. "What is that?"

Of in the distance was a massive city built entirely out of coral and the rusted remains of what looked like ships. It looked like something straight out of some of the books Mare was always borrowing from Ashurbanipal. It was full of bizarre architecture that humans might have likened to non-Euclidean geometry.

"That, Guardian, is my home, the city of R'lyeh." Merwrym told her, stretching his tentacles proudly as if to better show off his city. "It is from here that I rule the waves."

"So that's a nice lead in to one of the questions that Albedo wanted me to ask."

"Ask away." As they continued the journey to his seat of power.

"So you Lords of Felmid split control of the planet up?"

"Yes," Merwyrm agreed. "I rule the seas. Deathwing rules the skies and Baragon rules the Underdark."

_Wonder what's that, but I guess I'll leave it to Demiurge to figure out._

"The various Momon lords rule different domains, each centered around one of the ruined acropoli and megacities. The wastelands belongs to the Sliver Queen, whilst the forests that remain are in the charge of Malwood and his plantfolk."

"And what do you all do?"

"We all have two basic orders from Lord Momonga. One, we are to constantly prepare ourselves for the day he will need our armies in war. Thus we relentlessly drill against each other in mock battles. Two, he tasks us to heal Felmid's devastated landscape and biosphere as a reminder to never follow in the footsteps of the Earthlings who turned their world into that which forced the Lord into such despair."

"And that's all?"

"No, we each have different tasks beyond that."

"What's yours?"

"I manage the transport of goods across Felmid as I control all the portal hubs on the planet."

"Transport goods? What would you need to transport?"

"Many things, Guardian. Many things."

* * *

"So you handle all the mining activities on Felmid?" Demiurge observed as he stood overlooking a massive magma field in the depths of the planet's crust

"Indeed, Lord Demiurge." Baragon said in the bestial growl that passed for his manner of speech. "Me and my minions scour the Underdark for deposits of the raw materials my fellow Lords need to carry out their tasks in the sunlit lands above."

Demiurge nodded as he watched a group of earth and fire elementals in the shape of willowy humanoids scoop out a bucket of raw magma from one of the rivers of molten metal that flowed across the vast underground plain before him before proceeding to combine their powers to draw up the metals within and transform it into ingots of processed metals that a pack of humanoid rat-creatures stacked into neat piles on top of pallets. These pallets were in turn hauled away in long trains by herds of monsters that blended the features of wolves and rats. This was one of many such scenes occurring all around the myriad magma rivers in the underground plain in front of him.

"Tell me Lord Baragon, why do you call your domain the Underdark?"

"It is one of the names the Earthlings called their underground works. When it was made a part of Felmid and I took it over, I choose it as the name of my realm." Baragon told her with a shrug. "It seemed fitting somehow."

"An inspiration from Lord Momonga perhaps?"

"Perhaps," Baragon said uncertainly.

"So do you know what these raw materials you're harvesting is used for?"

* * *

"You. Produce. Weapons?" Cocytus asked in surprise as he stood over a vast chamber in the heart of the largest of the Sliver Hives located in the wastelands that covered what he had been informed would have been the Central Asian steppe back on Earth.

 _Indeed, Guardian._ The Sliver Queen informed him telepathically as she gestured with one of her long mantid claws towards the rows upon rows of her children as they labored away assembling what seemed similar to CZ2I28 Delta's Magic Gun though most, but not all, lacked enchantments of any kind.

"Why. Would. This. Be. Necessary?"

_Mainly to arm the Momon's undead legions. A skeletal warrior is a weak thing, especially when armed with merely a sword and shield but equip it with ballistic armor and an assault weapon and without raising its level, it becomes a far deadlier foe._

"Can. They. Even. Equip. Such. Weapons?"

_So long as it is neither too advanced nor enchanted, even the lowliest of skeletons can indeed bare such arms._

"Fascinating."

And indeed it was. If this was truly the case and Cocytus had no doubt it was, then equipping the POP skeletons of Nazarick in such a manner would greatly increase their combat effectiveness. It was something to seriously consider after he'd seen what the capabilities of these weapons were.

"Besides. Guns. What. Else. Do. You. Produce.?"

_We produce all manner of weapons, from guns to tanks to warplanes to ocean going ships. The only thing we do not produce are starships those are the purview of Deathwing._

Cocytus nodded, making a mental note to contact Sebas to discuss these starships. In the meantime, he had plenty to assess already.

"I. Would. Like. A. Demonstration. Of. These. Weapons. Of. Yours."

_Of course, Lord Cocytus. I shall make the arrangements immediately._

* * *

High in the skies of Felmid. Hidden within the thickest banks of its toxic clouds, there floated a single massive facility. This was the Felmid version of what on Earth had been known as the United Acrology States' Zeus Starport. It had been the confederation of American acrology states' and hence the world's biggest spaceport. In Felmid, it was the only one of its kind. Not because the others had not been duplicated by Lord Momonga when he created the world but because of Deathwing's industriousness.

At the Dragon lord's orders, the dozen or so different spaceports' equipment had been packed up and shipped to Zeus. This greatly expanded the facility but in a haphazard way, so what had originally been a simple H-shaped station floating on anti-gravity plates in Felmid's atmosphere had been transformed into a confusing mess of connecting tube like sections that spread out like a basket star.

"I know it is inelegant," Deathwing, currently in the form of a human with dark skin dressed in a double breasted suit not unlike Demiurge's, said as they looked down at the whole construct from an observation deck at the top of the tallest of the dozen or so towers sticking up from the rest of the structure. "However, I chose to prioritize efficiency over aesthetic concerns."

To an outsider unfamiliar with the situation, Deathwing's apologetic, defensive tone seemed odd. For Sebas Tian, the man to whom he was speaking, who had the appearance of an elderly butler, dressed gracefully in his traditional black uniform and one make easily mistake him for the Dragon's servant. In truth, they were more akin to equals than anything else.

"Is that why the ships you are producing and maintaining are all covered in rust and look like they are falling apart?" The Iron Butler of Nazarick asked, his eyes narrowed in displeasure.

By Deathwing's own admission, he had been tasked by Lord Momonga to prepare a starfleet for the Supreme One's service. If the dragon had failed in this task, then as a loyal servant of the last of the Supreme Beings it was his duty to take him to task.

"Yes and no," Deathwing said with a sigh. "There are ways that I could make them seem more appealing to the eye but that would be a waste of resources."

"How so?"

"I could paint over the rust but it will not last. It is the nature of Felmid, of Lord Momonga's curse."

"He has cursed this world?" Sebas asked, skeptically.

"In a sense." Deathwing said with a sigh. "Until all of Felmid is healed, everything of its make will be tainted by rust and decay soon enough. Thankfully by the will of the Supreme One, that which is afflicted by this curse still work normally. The taint is merely cosmetic at least while we remain within Felmid itself. A reminder to all that until we heal this broken world like he dreams, we will have no escape from its impact."

"But starships are made to leave this world are they not?"

Deathwing nodded. "That is why we must consecrate each vessel we build to the Supreme One without exception. Nothing of Felmid's can leave this world and survive more than a moment without his divine protection."

"As it should be."

"Indeed."

"How many ships have you made ready for war? You said that was one of your goals?"

"It is," Deathwing agreed. "And I am sad to say I only have thirty true warships at the moment. Twelve of those we salvaged from the ruins. Another thirteen we converted. The rest we built ourselves."

"Yet from this window alone I see at least fifty ships." Sebas observed as gangs of Goblins and Dragonkin of various types scurried over the aforementioned ships docked in dozens of bays within view.

"Many are civilian vessels. Mainly of the mining or freighter variety." Deathwing informed him with a shake of his head. "They will not be very useful in battle. We have been trying to refit them, but it is slow going at best."

"You need all the ships for combat?"

"No," Deathwing acknowledged. "But many of the Earthling civilian designs lacked even the most basic defenses. If they are used even in support roles for the Supreme One's wars like he commands they must be refit."

"I see. How long till your task is complete?"

"Months at best." Deathwing told him, sounding disappointed. "Much of the time until now has been focused on building the supply chain we needed and with that done our progress will be greatly accelerated, but there is still much work to be done."

"Tell me what you need, I shall forward it to Lord Momonga. I am sure that he will reallocate the resources you need if it is possible."

"You have my thanks, Sebas Tian."

"No thanks are necessary. I am merely carrying out the will of Lord Momonga."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> So we get some fleshing out of the lore of Felmid. I hope it was interesting. I scattered a host of references/ideas from other IPs, some more obvious than others. Anyone want to take a crack at spotting all of them?
> 
> Speaking of crossover elements, the D&D elements will be coming next chapter. That should be fun to write.
> 
> Till then, alámenë


	4. Realmfall 4: The World Born Dead

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Realmfall**

**Chapter 4: The World Born Dead**

**Beta:**

* * *

It had a whole week since Momonga had retreated into the depths of Ashurbanipal alongside his loyal creation Pandora's Actor and he had finally gathered all the information he needed.

_At least I hope so. The lore on this world is vast and it is almost certain that I missed something._

"Do not fret mein Vater," The Doppelgänger dressed in a yellow Neo-Nazi-esque uniform with a egg shaped head that lacked distinct facial features except the three holes that represented his mouth and eyes that was his creation said. "While there is much more to research, we have gathered all we can on the threat we currently face."

"Yes, we have." Momonga nodded as they walked towards the entrance of the Grand Library. "However, as you say Pandora's Actor, there is much left to learn. As such, while I go rally our forces to deal with Atropus, I want you to stay here and continue the research into this Realm in which we now apparently find ourselves."

"Wie Sie befohlen haben, mein Vater!" The excitable Doppelgänger said with an elaborate salute.

Momonga just palmed his face in dismay.

_Why did I ever think this was cool?_

"What did I say about speaking German and the exaggerated gestures and body language?"

"Urk! Apologies, mein Vater, I will do my best to restrain myself."

"Do so," Momonga told him seriously. "And carry out your task with full fervor. The sooner we understand the intricacies of this world the better."

"I shall get it done, mein Vater." His 'son' assured him in a more subdued but still highly enthusiastic tone.

Nodding at him in satisfaction, Momonga teleported to Nazarick's Throne Room. There he found it empty save for Albedo who stood to the right of the Throne of Kings and typed away at a series of holographic screens, compiling the reports of the various Guardians' observations.

_She seems to believe that I sent them out to report back. Not entirely correct since I already know everything there is to know about Felmid. Though I suppose reading that report will tell me how much the Guardians have managed to learn of my 'children' so far._

He had barely finished the thought and was mid motion in seating himself on his Throne when the succubus finally detected his presence and spun around to face him.

"Lord Momonga," Albedo said with a happy smile as she fell to one knee before him. "You have returned."

"I have." Momonga replied with a sagely nod, one of a number of gestures he'd at Pandora's Actor's urging practiced to help him continue to act the part he'd taken up as the ideal Undead Godking. "Rise and summon the Floor Guardians, except Gargantua and Victim, as well as the Lords of Felmid. I have finished my research and have things to announce."

"At once my lord." Abledo said as she stood.

Obeying his command like the able subordinate she'd been created to be, she began rapidly using the **Message** spell to summon the various leaders of his forces to the Throne Room. They in turn heeded his command with all haste and within ten minutes they were all kneeling before him, including Enri Emmott and Sebas Tian.

_Both of whom I didn't specifically call for but which can be inferred from my command. Very good. So it seems that like Pandora's Actor the parts in Albedo's biodata about her unmatched intelligence has been made real along with everything else. Then again this is only one data point and a weak one at that, but a more detailed analysis of this can wait._

"Guardians of Nazarick, Lords of Felmid, Sebas Tian, Enri Emmott," Momonga addressed them after receiving their obeisance in the form of them kneeling before him and declaring his greatness.

His specifically addressing Sebas and the Emmott girl had them all looking at him with glittering eyes. He couldn't interpret what all of the Guardians felt - he simply had not spent enough time with them since they'd developed emotions and the ability to express them to read their facial cues correctly - but from the Lords of Felmid he sensed a great blossoming of love and respect for his choice to not exclude the two even in such a small way as a blanket address.

_So easily satisfied._ Momonga thought to himself with a mental chuckle even as he continued speaking.

"There are two orders of business for which I have summoned you. First, and the more easily accomplished of the two, is to inform you that I have decided to take on a new name. From henceforth, the name of Momonga shall become my personal name and be held sacred. It is not to be spoken to outsiders."

"Is that understood?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives and Momonga waited for the last to finish before he continued.

"As for the name you shall use to address me to outsiders, I have chosen Ainz Ooal Gown. Guardians of Nazarick do you have any objections to this choice of me usurping the Guild name for my own?"

"We all now know the name of the Lord." Albedo said, speaking on behalf of the Guardians. "Hail Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown, all members of the Great Tomb of Nazarick swears undying fealty to you."

Without hesitation, the other Guardians and Sebas repeated her declaration.

"Hail Lord Ainz Ooal Gown! Supreme Overlord Ainz Ooal Gown who leads us! We will dedicate our all to you and swear undying fealty to you!"

Followed shortly thereafter by the gathered leaders of Felmid.

"Hail Ainz Ooal Gown-sama! Eternal loyalty to the Bone Father!"

The newly renamed Ainz nodded in satisfaction and let his eyes wander up to the many flags of his guildmates for a moment.

_This way I can honor the name my friends and I created whilst not disappointing my children who devote themselves to my name._ Ainz thought as he recalled the back and forth he'd had with Pandora's Actor over this matter when he'd raised the idea of taking on a new name a couple days ago. The Doppelgänger had been opposed to the idea at first, not wanting his creator to give up his name. In response to this sentiment and with his creation's help, Ainz had refined the idea into what it was now. _Plus, using this name…._

He knew it was unlikely that his friends had been transported to this world too. If Nameless had done so, considering all the advantages the ROB had given him he would have dropped his comrades here on Felmid already. That said, there was a chance so…

_Using_ our _name will draw them to me as soon as they hear it and are able._

It was a slim hope but it was one that Ainz would hold onto for as long as possible.

Pulling back his wandering thoughts to the present, Ainz returned his gaze to his waiting subordinates.

"Now, unto the second order of business." Ainz said with a powerful anxiety that would have likely debilitated him if not for his emotional suppressor, such was the terror he felt at having to face what was coming. "We need to prepare for an invasion."

"An invasion, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown?" Albedo said, blinking in confusion.

"Just Lord Ainz will do," Ainz said absently. "And yes, an invasion. Through my divination I have discerned that a moon sized undead entity, known to this world as the primordial Atropus is en route to destroy us."

This was met by shocked muttering from his subjects, but a swift glare from Albedo silenced them and bowing her head, she addressed him.

"Apologies, Lord Ainz, we have embarrassed ourselves before you."

"No apologies are necessary. My pronouncement was a shocking one, some surprise is to be expected."

"My Lord, you are too generous. We should not have behaved such in your pre-"

"Albedo, enough!" Ainz said cutting the succubus off. "I am not offended. Move on."

The Guardian Overseer ducked her head in apology at being chastised but quickly rallied.

"What should we do to prepare for this invasion, my lord?"

"Prepare every ship that we can salvage from the ruins capable of spaceflight." Ainz declared, his eyes burning with determination he did not fully feel but projected nonetheless.

_Fake it till you make it._ The quiet voice of Suzuki Satoru reminded him.

"I do not care if it is nothing more than a tugboat or if it's a battleship. We will need all of them."

"Pardon me for asking, my Lord, but what do you intend to use them for?" Demiurge asked, bowing low. "Depending on the task you have in mind, different preparations will need to be made."

_Did he just preempt an oversight I was about to make?_ Ainz thought with a pleased smile, or what passed for it on the featureless skull of a face that he possessed.

"Good question, Demiurge." Ainz said, radiating pleasure at the Devil's initiative. "And the answer is simple. I intend to take the fight to the enemy."

* * *

Atropus drifted through the vacuum with purpose towards Felmid which had appeared in the large gulf of space that existed between the worlds of Chandos and Glyth from its place as one of the latter's moons, from whence it had laid waste to the formerly Illithid dominated world, leaving it dead and devastated. The primordial moved slowly through the void though, as befit an undead with all the time in the world.

Looking out upon his moon sized enemy as his fleet closed, despite undead himself Ainz could not help but find it disgusting.

Atropus was nothing but a decaying, disembodied head the size of a small moon, apparently made of black stone, heavily cratered, and covered in oceans of foul amniotic fluid. It was barren and rocky, roughly spherical and with mountainous ridges, deep trenches, and sharp spikes upthrusting from the ground. Glossy black stones, each 40 miles in diameter if his ships' sensors were correct, formed its eyes and a massive chasm into the depths of its mass hundreds of miles long served as its mouth.

It utterly dwarfed the small ramshackle looking fleet Ainz was flying towards it. His fleet, of roughly two hundred ships outwardly looked like twisted wrecks that shouldn't be capable of flight much less battle. However, Ainz's blessing made them far more than they seemed. Despite their appearance, every ship was spaceworthy and equipped with every available weapon that his subjects could bolt on.

"Lord Ainz," Deathwing, the commander of his fleet, called out to him as he turned away from one of his subordinates. "We are detecting magical readings forming some distance ahead."

"Atropus is conjuring a fleet to intercept us," Ainz declared. "Prepare for battle."

The Dragon in humanoid form gave a salute and turned to bark orders at his crew of Goblins and Dragonkin.

Satisfied that his subordinate had things under control, Ainz returned his attention to the view outside the window that dominated the bridge of his flagship, the _Bone Father_ , and watched with narrowed eyes as large magic circles began appearing ahead of his fleet from which surged from a host of battered looking sailing ships of various designs.

_Ghost ships? I suppose that is an appropriate counter to my own fleet._ Ainz thought. _Though I was unaware such things as ghost spelljammers existed._

Floating in the void in the center of the loose, barely organized packs of the enemy ships floated comparatively tiny objects that only Ainz's exceptional vision allowed him to see were actually ghoulish fetus shaped undead abominations with pale red skin, rotten flesh, skin-covered empty eye sockets, swollen joints, exposed bones and jaws which hung open to reveal long tongues and razor-sharp teeth.

_Atropals as commanders huh? I suppose that makes sense._

The magic circles spun for a good minute or two, conjuring hundreds of ghost spelljammers and dozens of atropals before fading from view.

_Done are we, Atropus? Then it is my turn._

Raising the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and focusing his power through it, causing himself to be covered in a dark aura that let loose the occasional screaming tormented soul, Ainz cast his opening move.

" **Triplet, Widen, Maximize Magic: Fallen Down!"**

Back in YGGDRASIL Fallen Down was a Super Tier spell that called down a huge pillar of blue light from the sky that would burn so bright and hot that it would appear like the whole world has turned white. When this light faded a few seconds later, it would leave behind an area burned to a cinder and devoid of life. This spell also had the holy attribute, allowing it to deal even more damage to undead-type enemies. It was thus the perfect spell to use here against Atropus' forces.

But for all that, if the spell was only capable of just that in this new world, Ainz would not have used it. Super Tier spells back in the game had long activation times and could not be affected by metamagic. This meant that while powerful it could at best target a handful of targets and its casting could easily be interrupted. While the latter was not an issue as Ainz was in the heart of his fleet, the former was problematic indeed. However, thankfully the mechanics of his magic had changed in this world. Through experimentation with Pandora's Actor during breaks while they researched, Ainz had learned that in this new world, _he_ could apply metamagic to his Super Tier spells. Similarly, his ability to add metamagic effects also seemed to have no upper limit, unlike the limit of two effects that existed in YGGDRASIL. This ability was unique to him as well as despite their best efforts, Pandora's Actor had not been able to duplicate either feat. This had puzzled them, but right now he was glad for the odd quirk.

It was after all what allowed three massive beams of brilliant white light to shoot down from above directly into the heart of the formations of the enemy fleet and reduce a good third of them to ash.

_Your move, Atropus._

He'd barely finished the thought when the massive primordial's mouth opened and spat forth a massive beam of raw destructive power at Ainz's fleet.

" **Widen, Maximize Magic: Mirror Alice!"**

The spell **Mirror Alice** in YGGDRASIL had been a low tier gimmick spell derived from some old anime that created a mirror that had the ability to deflect attacks back onto the attacker or other targets with double the damage. However, the damage it could absorb was low and if the damage it attempted to absorb was above that limit it would shatter, dealing double the damage against the caster instead. This drawback meant it was only ever effective against the weakest of opponents. However, that was in the game.

Here in this new world, empowered by the full might of Ainz Ooal Gown the spell summoned a massive pane of glass directly in the path of Atropus' beam and deflected it into the ranks of the undead primordial's fleet destroying a good chunk of them.

"Lord Ainz, the enemy are about to close into engagement range of our ships' weapons."

"Very good, Deathwing." Ainz said with a nod, wary of Atropus' response. "Fire at will. And keep a tight protective formation over our secret weapons. How long till they are within range?"

"Affirmative." The Dragon replied dutifully. "As for the secret weapons, they'll need at least five minutes."

Ainz nodded even as he conjured in his mind a mental countdown timer, causing one to appear in his vision in the location of his own clock for his now lost YGGDRASIL UI.

_How convenient._ Ainz noted with a grin even as he saw Atropus make its next move.

Apparently realizing that shooting a single massive beam was counterproductive, his primordial opponent had switched gears and snapping his mouth shut had instead taken to breathing out a stream of narrow less powerful beams of power instead. Watching them curve through the void towards his fleet, the Overlord grunted in grudging admiration of his enemy's move.

_So you realize I can at best duplicate my spells three times? Well, unfortunately I can just cast more than one spell then!_

" **Triplet, Maximize Magic: Mirror Alice! Triplet, Maximize Magic: Dark Aegis. Triple-"**

Casting spell after defensive spell from his repertoire of 718 different spells, Ainz protected his fleet as best as he was able from not only Atropus' destructive beams but the attacks of his atropals and ghost ships. Attacks were redirected by **Mirror Alice** onto the enemy, others were absorbed by magical barriers of various colors, others still simply swerved away from their targets seconds before impact. These and all manner of protective effects shielded Ainz's fleet from the enemy.

Despite this, the enemy was relentless. Outnumbering Ainz's forces by a large margin and with the relentlessness that characterized the undead, the thralls of Atropus pressed on and through sheer numbers began scoring hits. For while Ainz's protective magics were mighty, he could not shield all his ships at once. Thus armor buckled and hulls ruptured from ballistae bolts, projectiles from catapults, cannon balls and dark spells as the atropals and the ghost spelljammers destroyed scores of Felmid ships.

Still they fought on.

" **-Magic: Fallen Down! Triplet, Maximize Magic: Cloak of Unholy Protection!"**

Their god fought on and so the servants of Ainz Ooal Gown did the same.

"My Lord!" Deathwing said, as the _Bone Father_ was rocked by a hit. "We are within the range of the secret weapons."

_Finally._ Ainz thought as he stopped his casting. While he felt no appreciable decrease in his mana despite his use of so many overpowered spells, the mental strain of casting so quickly and such a large variety of spells was giving him a headache.

"Fire them at once." Ainz ordered. "I will screen the attack."

"At once, my Lord!"

Ignoring his subordinate's reply, Ainz mentally selected the spells he needed. As he did, his beleaguered fleet now lacking his protection began taking grievous losses but nevertheless loyally obeyed their orders and opened up the front of their formation to allow the firing of their secret weapons.

Said secret weapons were a pair of large barrel shaped ships. On Ainz's Earth their equivalents were prototype asteroid mining ships designed to fire a hybrid of kinetic kill vehicles and nuclear weapons to break up target asteroids to allow for easier resource extraction. Now these repurposed, Felmid versions of those vessels fired their payloads at a significant fraction of light speed courtesy of their powerful railguns and sent them hurtling right at Atropus' eyes.

Fast as the shots were, Atropus was a primordial. A divine entity. It was thus fully able to react in time and threw up a barrier of sickly purple energy to protect itself.

Ainz however was having none of that.

" **Maximize Magic: Sword of Damocles!"**

At his invocation, a single massive glowing sword manifested directly over Atropus' barrier and slammed into it. In YGGDRASIL, the Super Tier spell **Sword of Damocles** was a bunker buster spell with attributes that allowed it to pierce the most potent of defenses. Carried over to this new world and enhanced by the power of Ainz Ooal Gown, the glowing sword effortless shattered Atropus' barrier and proceeded to stab itself deep into the primordial's crust roughly where its nose should have been before detonating. As if pre planned, this was complemented by the shots from the asteroid miners striking Atropus' eyes. Thus in three cataclysmic explosions, the entire upper portion of the undead promordial's face completely ceased to exist.

It naturally howled in agony.

"Fire the second salvo." Ainz ordered at the sight.

Again the process repeated itself as two more shots of the asteroid miners and another **Sword of Damocles** slammed into the reeling Atropus. This time though, they went straight down its open mouth. Again massive explosions ripped the primordial's body apart, this time they severed a whole chunk of its lower jaw which drifted away from its main mass.

Even without a mouth and in the void, Ainz could hear Atropus' cry of pain. The force of it carrying across the nothingness in a wordless psychic howl. It sounded pitiful if he was honest with himself, but he pushed whatever pity he felt aside and proceeded to finish this.

" **The Goal of All Life is Death!"**

This was no spell but rather a special skill Ainz had gained from reaching the maximum level in his Eclipse job class. The Eclipse class let the user become a true lord of death, a life-consuming Eclipse, thus its ultimate skill fit this theme by strengthening the instant death effect of magic and skills to the point of bypassing any immunity or resistance and killing their targets after a certain amount of time had passed. In this new world however, like with his spells, Ainz could change the specifics of his skills as well. Thus foregoing the need for time to pass, the Overlord willed the skill to take hold and enhance him.

The instant he felt the skill take hold, Ainz cast his spell.

" **True Death!"**

In too much pain to react, Atropus did nothing as the spell was cast upon it.

That would be the last mistake it ever made.

The effect of his spell was instantaneous. One moment the wounded Atropus was howling in pain, the next its psychic cries ceased and its body stilled. Slowly but surely, the moon sized mass began to break apart. First in small chunks but at ever growing speed the disintegration accelerated, until within moments nothing was left by a cloud of boulder sized debris.

Even as Ainz watched this with satisfaction, he could feel something shift in the universe and within himself. Unseen by his cheering subjects or the now frozen, disintegrating remains of Atropus' forces, the Primordial of Undeath's essence flowed into Ainz Ooal Gown who as his killer assumed his mantle. None of them but Ainz could know that even as the Atropus broke into pieces, Felmid changed as imitating the form it had previously taken the new power the world's master had gained flowed into it and transformed it into a part of himself.

_So now not only its inhabitants are part of me, but the planet itself? Fascinating._

Shaking off his musings, Ainz turned to Deathwing.

"Regroup the fleet and turn us around, Deathwing. Let us return to Felmid and celebrate our victory."

"As you command, my Lord."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hope you guys liked it.
> 
> As some might have noticed with Atropus and the abilities he demonstrated, I'm going to play fast and loose with what is attributed to the characters in canon D&D. One thing I never particularly liked about the setting is how mechanical everything is at times. I understand this is wholly to make things understandable and it's up to DMs and Players to translate it into a more 'realistic' setting. That said, I still find the mechanics limiting. Hence, I will not rely overly much on canon stat blocks beyond them giving me a guide of what characters or creatures can do. For example, if a being is a primordial or god then they should be able to do almost anything and is only limited to preferences/advantages/disadvantages imposed by their portfolios and domains. Similarly, if a creature logically should have an ability based on its anatomy or description/backstory but lacks it in the game for whatever reason I'll add it in.
> 
> As for the battle itself, the focus isn't really on the fleet action even though it played a key part in Ainz's plan. Instead, as should be fitting when two divine entities fight the battle was more of a duel between Atropus and Ainz than anything else.
> 
> Well that's it from me this chapter. Till next time, kìyevame!


	5. Realmfall 5: Meeting the locals

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Realmfall**

**Chapter 5: Meeting the locals**

**Beta:**

* * *

Ainz was relaxing on the throne provided on the _Bone Father_ as it prepared to sail back towards Felmid and was savoring his victory over Atropus when a chiming sound in his mind informed him of an incoming **Message** from Sebas.

_What could Sebas possibly want at this time?_ The Overlord pondered as he stretched out his newly expanded sense of Felmid to attempt to discover what had prompted the Iron Butler to call him. Immediately he sensed a large, unfamiliar concentration of power hovering just outside Nazarick surrounded by a large contingent of Felmid's many defenders and led by the Dragonoid butler himself. _Such power. I wonder who it could be…_

_Sebas._ Ainz greeted his subordinate as he accepted the **Message**. _Is this about the entity that has arrived in front of Nazarick._

_Indeed it is, my Lord._ The Iron Butler said, barely hiding his surprise at Ainz's knowledge of the situation. _Lord Asmodeus, the God of Indulgence and Supreme Master of the Nine Hells, wishes an audience._

_The Lord of Devils wishes to see me? I wonder what he wants._ Ainz thought to himself privately.

_Show the Archfiend to the Throne Room and tell him that I'll be with him shortly._ Ainz told Sebas, before quickly adding. _And make sure that Albedo is there equipped with Ginnungagap._

The World Item was primarily an Area of Effect weapon and wasn't exactly suited to fighting a single target like Asmodeus but if a fight broke out then nothing less than a World Item was likely to even faze the Greater Deity. He doubted there would be a need though, if the Lord of Nessus had come seeking conflict he'd have brought an army and not seeking an audience.

_That does not preclude him trying to swindle me in some way._

In fact that the devil would attempt as such was almost a certainty.

_Your will be done, my Lord._ Sebas replied, unaware of his master's thoughts, and disconnected.

"Deathwing," Ainz called out the moment the **Message** spell faded. "I must return to Nazarick immediately. However before I depart I would like an update on the status of the fleet. Have all the ships regrouped?"

"Most, my Lord." The dragon in human guise reported. "We are still trying to account for a number of the missing ships that we lost track off in the confusion of battle, however based on the debris fields in the area we are fairly certain that they were destroyed."

Ainz had an odd feeling at that. He was certain Deathwing was being truthful yet incorrect. He however had no reason beyond this nebulous feeling to believe such, so shook it off.

"Very good," he told the Dragon lord. "And how many of our ships survived the battle?"

"Of our warships twenty two survived the battle, though most have suffered substantial damage. The idea to use the converted civilian craft as shields was inspired my lord."

Ainz waved the praise away. He was merely imitating the tactic from something he vaguely remembered from a somewhere. It was probably a history lesson but it could just as easily have been a game or movie. Either way, he did not feel it merited any praise.

"It does mean that we lost most of the civilian ships." Deathwing continued. "There are only fifty eight serviceable vessels left."

"Those are acceptable losses." Ainz informed him with a regal nod. "Return to Felmid at your own time. I will go ahead."

"Yes, my Lord." The Dragon offered a salute that was quickly imitated by the rest of his bridge crew.

Giving them all another nod in recognition, he cast the **Gate** spell and conjured an ovoid portal of pitch black darkness. Walking through it, he stepped out into the Throne Room of Nazarick and noted that Asmodeus had not yet arrived.

"Albedo, have you been informed of our guest?" Ainz asked the Guardian Overseer who already stood ready and waiting at her assigned station.

"Yes, my Lord." The succubus said waving Ginnungagap meaningfully.

"Good," Ainz said as he settled onto the Throne of Kings. "But we shall resort to violence only as a last resort. I would like to avoid conflict with the locals of this world as much and as long as is possible. Is that clear, Albedo?"

"Crystal, my beloved Lord. Your wish is my command."

Ainz nodded and rested his hands on the arms of the Throne in a pose that he knew from practicing with Pandora's Actor exuded a regal bearing. Or at least so his Doppelgänger creation claimed.

_Well it appears time to put it to the test._ Ainz thought as the doors to the Throne Room opened.

* * *

Albedo stood watchful as the tall, slim red-skinned humanoid with horns on the head and glowing red eyes sauntered into the room behind Sebas Tian. The Archfiend's clothes, a set of crimson robes with black trimmings was opulent enough to rival even the most exquisite equipment of the Supreme Ones and in his hands he wielded a big solid ruby that was formed into the shape of a rod. The petty devil god's ostentatiousness was off putting enough but the aura of deceit and malice he radiated just set her further on edge.

_If he tries_ anything _untoward, I'll be ready to show him a taste of what true power means._ Albedo thought tightening her grip on Ginnungagap.

"My Lord, Lord Asmodeus, the God of Indulgence and Supreme Master of the Nine Hells." Sebas formally introduced the Archfiend to their god with a formal bow.

The head butler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick was about to introduce their lord, when Lord Ainz raised his right hand.

"I can introduce myself Sebas." Their benevolent master said in a soft but firm voice, causing the Dragonoid to bow low and take a step aside to assume his place to the side of the room where he took up a watchful vigil over this meeting between gods.

"Greetings, Asomodeus. I am Ainz Ooal Gown, Ruler of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and the planet Felmid."

"Well met, new Primordial of Undeath." The horned Devil said with a nod of his head.

"You know about that already? News does travel fast in this world it seems." Lord Ainz said, the red orbs that passed for his eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Oh, we knew about you the moment you materialized into Realmspace." Asmodeus said with a disturbingly sincere grin. "We were simply told not to interfere with you by Lord Ao until he allowed it."

"And that embargo has been lifted."

"Indeed." The red-skinned god said with a nod. "In fact, I have it on good authority that he is organizing a delegation of gods to come and meet with you shortly."

"And you chose to come ahead?"

"'The early bird catches the worm'." Asmodeus said with a broad smile that revealed a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. "I believe that's a phrase from your birthworld, is it not Ainz Ooal Gown?"

_He dares taunt the man I love!?_ Albedo thought as she moved to raise Ginnungagap to attack, even as Sebas fists tensed in preparation for the same.

Lord Ainz's chuckle however stalled them in their tracks.

"So you know of Earth?" Lord Ainz said, sounding pleased. "Why am I not surprised?"

_As expected of my beloved. His magnanimity allows him to remain cordial even after such an insult._

"I've had dealings with iterations of that Realm on occasion. Though, I must admit I doubt I ever had the pleasure of doing so with your own."

"Unsurprising. Creation is vast, is it not?"

"Indeed," Asmodeus conceded with an amused chuckle of his own.

"Now, tell me Archfiend." Lord Ainz said, his humor gone and replaced with seriousness that befit his station. "What brings you to my court? Even causing you to exploit a loophole in the Overgod's orders to come ahead of your peers?"

"I wish to form a non-aggression and information sharing agreement with you."

"And by being the first mover in this regard to use that advantage to ingratiate yourself with me."

"But of course," the Devil admitted without a hint of shame.

_How dare he attempt to manipulate us like this!?_

"You truly _do_ live up to your reputation."

"You honor me." The Archfiend said with an overly exaggerated bow of gratitude.

"Tell me, Lord of Lies, why seek an alliance with me?"

"Atropus." The god of indulgence said bluntly.

"Impressed by my show of power?"

"Considering you killed one of the greatest of the Primordials singlehandedly and without significant difficulty, did you think we would be anything but impressed?"

"I suppose not." Lord Ainz allowed with a shrug, feigning ignorance. "Now about your proposed deal. I will consider it if you tell me which of your fellow gods are coming so that I might prepare for their arrival. Offer me their names and we can work out an agreement."

"I'm afraid I do not make such unfair bargains. I'll need my deal in place before I offer you anymore information." Asmodeus said with a shake of his head that had Albedo and Sebas both tensing in annoyance.

_How dare he refuse Lord Ainz!_

"So the notification of the godly delegation's arrival was my freebie then?"

"Exactly."

"Very well," Lord Ainz said with a roll of his eyes. "I hope you don't mind negotiating the finer details with my subordinates?"

"Not when they were created specifically for such a purpose."

"Indeed. Delegation is important. Dealing with the minutiae can be tiring even for gods."

_I-Is that one of the reasons why the Supreme Ones created us? To help them carry out tasks they found too onerous? Oh! To be of service to them in this way, to lift their burdens so! It is glorious!_

Asmodeus gave a commiserating nod.

"Albedo!"

"Yes, my lord?"

"You will handle negotiations with Asmodeus or his proxies about our proposed alliance."

"I'll be handling this deal myself. I do not trust others to not mess this up." The Archfiend said with a smirk.

_Is he insinuating that Lord Ainz would not be able to manage to craft a good deal? Or that I wouldn't? Or both?_

Despite Albedo's impressive intellect she couldn't be sure of the exact nature of the barb the Archfiend was hiding in his words. She was sure there was one, but she simply could not place exactly what.

Her Lord in his infinite wisdom seemed more than able to do so however and his eyes narrowed in anger at the Archfiend's words but in a show of his incredible restraint, he said nothing.

The Devil seemed disappointed at being unable to get a rise from her god and instead turned to face Albedo herself.

"I look forward to working with you, Lady Albedo." The Devil lord said with a gracious bow.

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Asmodeus." Albedo said as she offered him a curtsy in turn, her mind already awhirl with what she needed to do to secure the best deal possible for her beloved.

_I will not fail you, my love. I will draft the best deal ever! That'll show this fool not to mock the love of my life._

* * *

"You didn't need to join me." Ainz told Asmodeus as they walked side by side up the steps of the central mausoleum of Nazarick's surface level en route to the conference table that had been set up for the meeting for the newly arrived godly delegation.

"No, but as my soon-to-be ally it behooves me to offer you what help I can in your negotiations with the other gods." The Prince of Evil said with a worried frown. "It would not do for my ally to be taken advantage of."

"We are not formally allies yet."

"It is only a matter of time." The Archfiend said with a shrug. "My other avatar and your able servant are merely going over the irrelevant finer details at this point. They'll be done shortly."

Ainz took a moment to extend his senses into the conference room set up in one of the smaller rooms in Ashurbanipal for the negotiations and confirmed the Devil's words.

_Yes, it indeed seems like they are almost done. Though, his generosity in offering his help with the other gods is probably motivated less by that than an attempt to further ingratiate himself with me. Sadly, it's working._

"My Lord," Demiurge greeted as with a bow before quickly falling into step with Ainz as she strode past. "Our guests are anxious."

_Good. With Demiurge, one of the greatest mind in Nazarick here, perhaps I can hope to match wits with these gods after all._

"Did Enri and her troops scare them perhaps?" Ainz joked.

Asmodeus chuckled.

"More likely they are feeling uneasy being subjected to your power. You do know being in your presence forces us to truly inhabit our avatars correct? We cannot remotely control them or devote only a fraction of our will to them as per normal. Your aura forces us to fully be present in our limited avatars. It is a most uncomfortable experience."

_I hadn't known that. All the records I discovered of a battle between divine beings indicated such a conflict should have devastating consequences on spacetime, yet my battle with Atropus did not. If my aura does as Asmodeus says and forces the divinities to observe some kind of limited state then it would explain much about that fight._

"You showed no sign of such discomfort." Ainz countered, hoping the Archfiend did not catch his shock at the revelation. At the way the Lord of Nessus smirked, he knew he'd failed.

_I just can't hide anything from him can I?_

"Devil! What are you doing here!?" A heavily armored Dwarf among the godly delegation spat as Ainz, Asmodeus and Demiurge neared the round table where the nine gods were already seated.

"Simply offering my assistance to my new ally is all, Moradin." Asmodeus said with a grin reveling in the muttering and whispered curses from his fellow gods his mention of their alliance caused even as he took his seat in the chair to the left of Ainz's own that had been pulled out for him by one of Nazarick's homunculus maids Ainz had ordered to attend to the guests at the meeting. "By the way, Ainz, that is Moradin-"

"All-Father and chief deity of the Morndinsamman, the Dwarven pantheon." Ainz said, recalling the name from the research he'd read on the various gods of this realm.

"You are surprisingly well informed." A god with a Human bard of an avatar said with a frown from where he sat at the very center of the godly delegation.

"And you are?" Ainz asked, even though he had a fairly good idea.

"That my friend is Oghma, the neutral greater power of bards, inspiration, invention, and knowledge."

"Thank you, Asmodeus." Ainz said offering the Devil a grateful nod, earning him frowns from many of the gods seated at the opposite side of the table. "Might you be so kind as to introduce the rest of your peers to me?"

"It would be my pleasure, my friend." Asmodeus said with a grin that showed he very much enjoyed the little game the two of them were playing to unsettle the other gods.

"That broad-shouldered, bearded man with one good eye in half-plate armor over there on the far left is Talos. He's the chaotic evil greater deity of storms and destruction."

The portfolios suited the god, if the spell of ozone and aura of violence that permeated from him were any indication. At his introduction, the Storm Lord offered Ainz a surprisingly polite nod that the Overlord returned.

"Next to him," Asmodeus continued after that brief exchange. "Is our fellow lawful evil greater deity Bane."

Bane was a dark and rather shadowy humanoid whose indistinct outline suggested he was wearing some dark armor wielding a jeweled gauntlet. Seeing he had Ainz's attention, the Black Lord offered a greeting.

"Well met, Ainz Ooal Gown."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Bane."

"Let's just move on with this shall we?" The dark haired warrior woman seated next to Bane said with a sneer. "I'm Shar, the Mistress of the Night. Now let's hurry up. I want off this wretched place as quickly as possible."

Ainz glared at her for a moment even as the many, many minions of his that surrounded the meeting table eyed her with anger. His power pressed down on hers in his anger and he felt it flinch away as if burned even as her avatar shrunk in on itself with a look of fear. This surprised the other gods, except Asmodeus who just smirked in satisfaction for some reason, but Shar shook off their looks and quickly hid her unease behind a mask of indifference.

"Since Shar has introduced herself, I shall move on to the man to the right of her." Asmodeus said, cutting into the tension that had surrounded the gods after Shar's reaction. "That's Tempus, the Lord of Battles and God of War."

Ainz nodded politely towards the heavily armored and obscenely over muscled brute, who returned a cautious one in return.

"Next to him is Oghma who you already know." Asmodeus said, dismissing the Lord of Bards quickly earning a frown from the neutral god in the process and moving onto the next god. "This gruff looking human warrior that radiates death is Kelemvor, Judge of the Damned, God of Death and the Dead."

The death god looked at Ainz with contempt and did not return the nod he was offered. The Overlord was not surprised. From his research, he knew that this god held deep respect for life and death, thus holding undead like him in the uttermost contempt.

"To Kelemvor's right is Lathander, the Morninglord, deity of creativity, dawn, renewal, birth, athletics, spring, self-perfection, vitality and youth." Asmodeus said gesturing to a blonde in clothes that reminded Ainz of a medieval noble, who sneered with disgust at the Overlord even as he offered him a nod like he had the other gods.

"Since you also already know Moradin, lastly we have Corellon Larethian." The Archfiend said pointing to the last member of the godly delegation, a god in the guise of a male Elf with bronze-colored skin and eyes and hair of a brilliant golden color.

"Now that we are all introduced," Oghma said, ignoring the cries of 'Finally' said by more than one of his fellows. "Let us begin these negotiations shall we?"

Before replying, Ainz shot Demiurge a look and his loyal Floor Guardian gestured to the notes he was taking. Satisfied that everything was in order, Ainz turned to the godly delegations.

"I would be happy to. However, first and foremost, I would like to know just what exactly we are negotiating."

"Do you take us as fools, Ainz Ooal Gown?" Kelemvor demanded, slamming a fist onto the table. His sentiments were echoed by many of his compatriots if their angry mutterings were any indication. But curiously some of them did not. Shar he could understand, the goddess was still folded into herself and eyeing him warily. Interestingly though, Bane was not one of them.

"You didn't tell him did you, you snake?" Moradin barked, pointing an accusing finger at Asmodeus.

The Archfiend just smirked and leaned back in his chair.

"He did actually," Ainz lied, noting out of the corner of his eye how this caused the Lord of Nessus' smirk to grow even wider. "But since _you_ were the ones tasked to negotiate with me on the orders of Lord Ao, it is only right that you present your case."

"Silence!" Oghma demanded, his voice booming over those of the other gods. "He is right."

"Oghma is correct," Bane said, shooting dark looks at the other gods before he turned to address Ainz. "We are here to negotiate the terms by which you choose to submit to the binding rules as imposed on all divinities by the Tablets of Fate."

"And as I told Asmodeus when he told me of your purpose, why should I bind myself so? Limiting my power to mere portfolios? Why in all Creation would I want to do that."

"Refusal will make you an enemy of all gods," Talos said warningly. "Not even you can stand up to such."

"Not all gods," Asmodeus said with a grin.

Bane likewise nodded.

"You two would disobey the orders of Lord Ao!?" Moradin demanded, standing and slamming a fist into the table so hard that it shattered. "Are you insane?"

"Since when did Lord Ao decree that Ainz Ooal Gown must abide by the Tablets of Fate?" Tempus asked with a snort. "All he said was that we work out a way to minimize conflict with him. It was you lot that added that bit about the Tablets on your own."

"And how else can we ensure we 'minimize conflict' but through the Tablets, Foehammer?" Lathander shot back.

"There is no way to avoid conflict with the undead," Kelemvor cut in.

"I must agree with the Lord of the Dead." Corellon said, eyeing Ainz with a murderous glare.

Ignoring the chief of the elven Seldarine pantheon, Ainz leaned in to Asmodeus.

"Are they always like this? So quarrelsome?" Ainz whispered to the Archfiend.

"Indeed." The Devil replied, radiating amusement. "Quite unbecoming is it not."

Watching as Oghma desperately tried to regain order within his delegation even as tempers flared and things seemed on the verge of coming to blows, Ainz could only nod in agreement.

_These were gods? They're behaving like children._

" **Enough!"** A 12 feet tall, ageless being, with a visage that lacked any remarkable features shouted in a preternatural booming voice as it materialized directly behind the delegations of gods. It had a white beard and hair, and wore a black robe dotted by millions of stars and moons, arranged in a not-quite-perceptible pattern but which had a beautiful and harmonious feel.

"L-Lord Ao!?" Oghma said sounding shocked.

" **You have failed me, Oghma.** " Realmspace's Overgod said looking down at the Lord of Bards with disappointment. " **I tasked you with leading this delegation to avoid having to intervene myself and you have failed."**

"My apologies, my Lord." The Lord of Knowledge said, in a tone that was a hair's breadth from grovelling.

Ainz didn't blame him. The power that wafted off this Lord Ao was phenomenal.

_So this is a Overgod. He feels almost as powerful as Nameless._

" **Silence, Oghma, all of you!"** Lord Ao barked glare at all nine of the gods he'd sent to speak on his behalf. " _ **I**_ **will handle matters from here."**

Ignoring the gods' simpering apologies, the The One Who is Hidden turned his attention to Ainz. If he had not already experienced the power of Nameless, having Ao's scrutiny focused on him would have unsettled the Overlord immensely but he _had_ and as a result the Overgod's power while still overwhelming was manageable.

" **Primordial Ainz Ooal Gown, by** _ **my decree**_ **no restrictions will be placed on your ability to act by** _ **anyone**_ **. Furthermore, you will be given Laerakond as your area of operation on Toril. Is that acceptable to you?"**

"It is Lord Ao." Ainz said, offering the Overgod a grateful bow. "You have my thanks for your generosity."

" **Than so mote it be. Anyone who challenges my ruling will face** _ **my**_ **wrath."**

"My lord, a question." Asmodeus asked, in a surprisingly polite tone.

It seemed that even the Archfiend knew to be respectful of the Overgod.

" **I know what you wish to know, Asmodeus. Your new ally is neither God nor Primordial. He is something else."**

This caused the godly delegation to stare at Lord Ao and Ainz in shock, even as the Overlord himself just let out a mental sigh.

_Why am I not surprised. I doubt Nameless would drop me in this world so I could just become a cog in its machine, even if it meant becoming a god._

"T-Then what is he, Lord Ao?" A terrified sounding Shar asked, hugging herself tightly.

" **You have tasted a sampling of his power, do you not have an idea Shar?"**

The Lady of Loss just shivered and shook her head, refusing to say a word. A response that earned shocked looks from her fellow gods. Well, most of them. Asmodeus just smirked like the cat which had caught the canary.

" **Since Shar is unwilling to share than I shall elaborate."** Lord Ao said, shaking his head in disappointment at the goddess. " **What Ainz Ooal Gown is something beyond your limited reckoning, or more accurately what he can become is such, but for now he already surpasses** _ **all**_ **of you. In some ways at least."**

"Yet, my Lord, you addressed Ainz as a Primordial earlier." Asmodeus pressed.

" **Because that is the closest thing to what Ainz Ooal Gown is at the moment, even if it fails to truly capture his nature. If you must, see him as such among yourselves."**

"I see, my Lord. Thank you for explaining." Asmodeus said with a grateful bow.

Lord Ao just nodded and with a sweep of his hand Ainz found himself alone with the Overgod in a familiar void.

"It is not the same void as Nameless uses," Lord Ao said now speaking with a more normal tone. "All empty Realms are simply similar."

"I see," Ainz said warily as he came to the realization that Lord Ao was likely the same class of being as the ROB that had dropped him into this world to begin with.

Said Overgod meanwhile was taking the time to stare at Ainz with such intensity that it seemed like he was looking into his very soul. Which he very likely was.

"Yes, I was." Lord Ao said as he finished. "And after doing so I can only say that I am uncertain if Nameless made the right choice in making you the new seed."

"Seed? What do you mean by that?"

Lord Ao shot him a warning look.

"I am not Nameless, infant." The Overgod told him warningly. "I will not tolerate disrespect from you. Nor will I help you again like I did today. From this day forth, you're on your own."

"I understand."

"No, you don't." Lord Ao told him bluntly. "But you will eventually. At least I hope so."

"I will try?" Ainz offered uncertainly.

"You will or you will die." Lord Ao said with a shrug. "The path Nameless has set for you offers no alternatives. So prove my doubts unfounded and survive. Or not. Either works for me."

"Wait! What do you me-"

Ignoring him, Lord Ao disappeared depositing him back at the conference table now devoid of the godly delegation.

"So what did Lord Ao have to say in his private audience with you?" Asmodeus asked curiously.

Ainz frowned and shook his head.

"Things for my ears only." Ainz told him. "Things I will need to figure out."

The Archfiend pouted, honestly pouted, but let the matter drop.

Ainz was grateful. He was too frazzled by Lord Ao's cryptic statements to play Asmodeus' games.

_What does he and Nameless want with me?_

* * *

Despite mulling over the matter for hours, Ainz came up with nothing and with other matters to attend to was forced to shelve the thought for later. Instead some time after the departure of the godly delegation, he was seated on the Throne of Kings once more as he read over the treaty Albedo had drafted with Asmodeus.

It took all his skills and experience gained from his time as a salaryman just to understand the legalese they had used to word the document, but he managed.

_It looks satisfactory._ Ainz thought, honestly surprised that they'd managed something as fair with the Lord of Lies of all people. No offense to Albedo and her intelligence but Asmodues was an ancient being infamous for his cunning and skill at deceit. If he wanted to, he was sure that he could easily sneak in something to his benefit. Yet, that did not seem to be the case. That wasn't saying much, Ainz's own limited intellect was vastly outstripped by them both, and he could easily have missed something but his gut told him he had not.

"You have done well, Albedo." Ainz told the Succubus

"Thank you, my lord." The Guardian Overseer said, blushing terribly and squirmed on the spot in joy at being praised.

Ignoring her antics, Ainz turned to Asmodeus.

"When would you like to hold the signing ceremony?"

"No need for such formalities." The Archfiend said with a dismissive of his hand. "Let's just do it now."

Ainz's eyes glowed with suspicion but he had no counter to it. He was under no illusions that more than one god had been deeply offended by the outcome of the godly visit and would likely attack him soon. He hadn't needed Demiurge's ongoing detailed breakdown of potential enemies based on the reactions at the meeting to know that. Or that he needed allies and fast.

"Very well. Sebas!"

"Yes, my lord?" The waiting butler asked as he stepped forward to kneel before him.

"Have a table brought there at once. And summon the Guardians except Gargantua and the Lords of Felmid. I want them here to see the signing."

"Yes, my lord." The Dragonoid said as he politely but quickly got to his feet and rushed out of the Throne Room to carry out his order.

"Your subjects are very loyal."

"It was written into them at their creation." Ainz told the Archfiend honestly.

Asmodeus simply nodded and they waited in silence as a pair of tables was brought into the Throne Room. In short order, he and Ainz were signing the treaty. They both signed a copy before exchanging it and repeating the process. Once both copies bore the signatures of both parties, the parchments both glowed and vanished.

"And so this compact is sealed." Asmodeus said as he stood from the seat he'd taken for the signing and offered Ainz a hand.

"Let it last forever more." Ainz added, as he accepted the extended hand.

As the two leaders shook hands, Ainz's gathered inner circle applauded politely.

"Now then," Asmodeus said as they released each other's hands. "As agreed upon in the treaty, I will now demonstrate what'll happen should it be breached."

"Go ahead," Ainz nodded, using his powers to temporarily lower the defenses of the Throne Room. He sensed Aureole Omega up in the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary on the 8th Floor panic a little as the wards which she managed lowered, but she thankfully quickly realized it was his doing and relaxed.

_I should apologize for alarming her later._

Even as he made a mental note to do so, Asmodeus summoned one of his subordinate Archfiends. It was a tall humanoid with dark hair, tiny black horns, and one cloven hoof. He was dressed in resplendent clothing and carried a rod of great power.

"Dispater," Asmodeus addressed his subordinate.

"Yes, my Lord?" The lesser Archfiend said, offering the Supreme Master of the Nine Hells a low bow.

"I wish for you to approach my friend Ainz Ooal Gown over there," the red-skinned Archfiend said gesturing towards Ainz where he sat on the Throne of Kings. "And negotiate a deal, any deal, for your own betterment."

The lesser Devil lord looked skeptical but obediently nodded and moved over.

"Lord Ainz," Dispater said in a slimy voice of a desperate salesman. "Could I interest you in a deal? For a legion of Merregon, perhaps? Or an army of Narzugon? Oh! For a limited time I can offer you both and even add in a pit fiend general as well. How about it?"

"That last offer sounds most appealing," Ainz said, playing along. "What is your price?"

"Oh, nothing big. Just a few hundred thousand so-"

"Enough," Asmodues said, cutting his subordinate off causing said Archfiend to immediately obey and take a step back from Ainz. "Thank you, Dispater, for assisting with the demonstration.

"I live to serve," the confused looking Lord of Dis said with a bow.

"Now then, Ainz I believe you are in violation of our treaty. Its fine print clearly states that dealings between our respective organizations must go through me or with my express approval. And while Dispater was acting on my orders, he did not have my approval to take as my intermediary. As per the terms of the treaty, you must relinquish now what you classify as a Divine class item to me."

"Very well. Pandora's Actor!"

"I have it, mein Vater." The Doppelgänger said as he came forward with a carefully selected Divine class items from the Nazarick Treasury. It was a gauntlet that had a passing resemblance to the jeweled gauntlet Bane had worn on his visit to Felmid, but even more ornate. It was a decently powerful item but was not overly so and was no great loss to Nazarick. It was thus a suitable gift for the sealing of the treaty which was what it really was.

Nevertheless the assembled Nazarick and Felmid leadership milled in consternation at handing over one of the Supreme Beings' treasures.

"Silence!" Ainz barked, slamming the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown into the ground with an audible bang and causing his aura to flare briefly. This silenced his subordinates immediately and Dispater to flinch, much to Asmodeus' amusement.

"My subjects, are you dissatisfied that I would give our new ally a gift to mark the sealing of our alliance?" Ainz asked, his eyes narrowed. "Would you prefer that I show myself to be a honorless scoundrel who does not show respect for the other party in my dealings?"

"No, my Lord." Abledo said, bowing so low her head almost touched the floor. She was not the only one. At this reprimand, all his subjects, save Pandora's Actor who had known his intent all along and had not acted out, imitated her. She like his creation had held her tongue as well but unfortunately as the Guardian Overseer had to take responsibility for her subordinates' foolishness. "We apologize. We should not have doubted you."

"And if it assuages any hurt feelings on your part, I will personally ensure that the legion that Dispater promised will be delivered as _my_ gift. Isn't that right, Dispater?"

"It shall be done, my lord." The lesser Archfiend said sycophantically in reply to his master's command.

"Thank you Asmodeus," Ainz said politely before returning his attention to his subjects. "You are forgiven my children. But remember that feeling of anger you felt when you didn't know better. For it will be what you will feel should you or any other under my rule or will come under my dominion in the future fails to abide by this treaty. So learn not to breach it and teach the same to your subordinates."

"You are wise indeed my Lord." Albedo said gushingly. "To use a single act for so many purposes. Truly your wisdom is immense."

"He's not bad. For a newbie." Asmodeus chimed in.

"We all have to start somewhere," Ainz chuckled before his subordinates could take offense.

_They are certainly overprotective of me and my honor. Something for me to be wary of in the future._

"Indeed. Though a question Asmodeus before you depart."

"Oh? Ask away."

"You have my thanks, of course, but I would like to know why you have been so helpful to me?"

"I assure you that I'm acting solely on my own self-interest."

"Being helpful and acting on one's self-interest is not necessarily mutually exclusive." Ainz told him.

"Good of you to realize that." Asmodeus said with a chuckle. "You are indeed off to a good start."

"Thanks in no small part to your assistance."

"It was not _I_ who killed Atropus. No, you were doing splendidly before I came long. I just helped a little here and there."

At that the Prince of Evil began gathering his power for a teleport, his subordinate Dispater quickly doing the same, and Ainz obligingly lowered the Throne Room's protections once more.

"Before I go," the Lord of Nessus said suddenly. "I should probably tell you that while there is nothing concrete yet, I'm sure that the other dark forces of this Realm are plotting against you."

"Only the dark forces?"

"The forces of good will not act first. Not unless you start slaughtering innocents." Asmodeus told him with a shrug. "It is our fellow evils from which you must fear attack."

"I expected as much," Ainz said with a sigh.

"Perceptive. Good. It will serve you well." The Lord of Devils said as she began to disappear from view. "Till we meet again, Ainz Ooal Gown. Do not die."

_I don't intend to._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Like the increased D&D elements in this chapter. Yeah? I hope so.
> 
> Anyways, as I write this story I must admit that I increasingly fear that I might make things OOC, especially the D&D side of it. As such, I'll just preemptively say it here: everything in this story is a result of a homebrew/headcanon version of both Overlord and D&D. Thus any deviation from canon comes from this.
> 
> Moving on…
> 
> So Ainz is starting to get involved in the complicated divine politics of Realmspace, making friends and enemies all over the place. To that end, was Asmodeus' stretching out of an arm of friendship to the new 'Primordial' a surprise? It shouldn't be. Ainz is an up and rising star and more importantly the Prince of Evil has a fair idea of what Ainz really is. He thus wants in with him as quickly as possible. This is also why he's mostly dealing with our favorite Overlord in good faith. Most of the divinities sadly don't get it and will suffer the consequences for it. What do I mean? Well, keep reading to find out.
> 
> Till next time, hajas!


	6. Realmfall 6: Invasion

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Realmfall**

**Chapter 6: Invasion**

**Beta:**

* * *

A week after the eventful meeting with Asmodeus and the local gods, Ainz was in the Amphitheater on the 6th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick experimenting with his new powers and magic working to move their use from the instinctive activation he had largely relied on up till now to a more conscious and purposeful tool when he sensed a host of powerful beings attempt to teleport onto Felmid.

_So they have come at last._ The Overlord thought to himself as he redirected the teleport into one of the killzones he'd prepared for this much anticipated invasion. Knowing that when the attack came his forces would likely be hopelessly outnumbered, he'd ordered his subordinates to construct fortified defenses around a number of sites across Felmid where it was hoped the invaders could be contained and destroyed through the crossfire from the surrounding defenders.

_Argh! They are resisting me!? I suppose I should have expected this._

The Master of Felmid had intended to send the invaders to one of the killzones further away from Nazarick such as the one in the Eurasian Steppe or in the Amazon Basin, but the collective might of his opponents were too great. All he managed was to shift them away from appearing directly in front of Nazarick and to the killzone on the blasted remains of the Kanto Plain instead. As the nearest killzone to his seat of power it was hardly ideal but it was all he could manage.

_Beggars can't be choosers._

"Mare!" Ainz barked as his mental struggle with the invaders continued as they still sought to teleport closer to Nazarick.

"Y-yes, Lord Ainz?" The nervous dark elf druid said as he set aside the notepad he'd been using to record the results of Ainz's experiments as he'd been tasked. His twin sister, Aura, who was seated next to him and assisting him by using her keen senses as a Ranger to pick out details Mare might have missed likewise sat straighter at Ainz's sudden interruption.

"The invasion has begun," Ainz told him bluntly, the strain he was under made him sound harsher than he wanted to be. "I've redirected them to the Kanto Plains. Use **Message** to inform our forces and have them reposition according to Demiurge's plans."

"A-At once, Lord Ainz!"

"Aura!"

"Yes, Lord Ainz?"

"Gather your strongest beasts. You will escort me as I head into battle." Ainz said as he summoned the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown to his side. The Guild Weapon teleporting from where it usually rested in the care of Aureole Omega down in the Cherry Blossom Sanctuary on the 8th Floor. He was loath to bring it into battle, but he had no choice. If he was to face multiple divinities than he'd need its power. It had, like him, changed with the transition and he could only hope that meant its destruction, should such occur, would not destroy Nazarick like it would have back in YGGDRASIL.

"At once, my lord." Aura acknowledged with a hasty bow before she let loose a sharp whistle that summoned a pack of her beasts.

Ainz waited a minute or so until she gave him a nod to signal her readiness before he used the **Gate** spell to create a portal to the command center of the Kanto killzone. Allowing Aura and her beasts to precede him, he stepped through.

_Into the fire I go._

* * *

"What is this!?" The lich that was the Vecna, God of Destructive and Evil Secrets hissed in agitation as he and a host of demons and evil gods appeared on a blasted plain somewhere on the upstart Ainz Ooal Gown's homeworld. "Why are we here? We should be outside the seat of his power!"

"He redirected us obviously," The demon lord Orcus said as he swung his fabled Wand and cast a powerful barrier over himself and his allies as artillery of various types and sophistication began falling on their position, blasting big holes in the ranks of the minions they'd brought with them. Not that the demon with the head and legs of a goat, ram-like horns, a bloated body, bat-like wings, and a long tail cared. Their ranks were refilled almost as quickly as they were whittled down as the various divinities simply pulled more of their subjects to this place to replace their losses.

"I am more concerned with how he is trapping us in our avatars and limiting our powers simply by being on his world. To have such power as to impose such rules even on other gods," Ilsensine, the patron deity of the Illithids in the guise of its favored form of a glowing disembodied emerald-color brain that trailed countless ganglion-like tentacles, said to the assembled deities. "He must be dealt with now or his power will soon grow to the point of being uncontrollable."

"Yes, which is why we are here." Orcus reminded his allies even as their hordes finally meaningfully engaged the defenders as they swarmed the admittedly well built fortifications they'd built around the location where their master had funneled his enemies. "Now let us dally no more. We have an upstart to kill."

"He might be an upstart Orcus, but he is not without allies." A deep cultured voice boomed across the battlefield.

The Demon lord and a good number of his allies looked up at its source to find no less than Asmodeus himself standing in the air ahead of a series of widening portals from which legions of Devils were pouring forth. Orcus growled at the sight of the Archfiend, his natural enemy and long time foe in the unending Blood War, and flapping his wings surged into the air to confront him.

That this dispelled the barrier that kept Orcus' allies safe from the defenders' artillery bombardment was immaterial to him in that moment. Summoning the Orcusword, his trusted demonic greatsword, he brought it down in a mighty overhead cleave on the Archfiend only to have it be deflected by Asmodeus' Ruby Rod.

"Go, you fools." The Demonic Lord of the Undead shouted to his allies below. "We will hold the devils at bay. You lot go kill the upstart."

"Eager for a fight are we?" The devil said with a taunting sneer. "Well, I'll be happy to oblige. But as for killing Ainz Ooal Gown? You really shouldn't entrust something so difficult to such weaklings."

"Quantity has a quality all its own," Orcus retorted as he shot a blast of raw chaotic corruption from his wand at Asmodeus who just casually batted it away with his rod.

"Yes, but quality is quality. And when the difference is as great as it is today, no amount of quantity will make up for it." The Archfiend said as he shot a stream of hellfire at Orcus that the Demon lord dodged with an agility that belied his rotund size.

"We shall see which outcome prevails today, won't we?"

Shaking his head as if express his pity and setting his Demonic ichor boiling, Asmodeus launched into the attack with a barrage of various spells.

"Yes, we shall." He said in agreement as he teleported close under his spell barrage and engaged Orcus in melee. "We shall indeed."

* * *

Ainz watched from the command center as Asmodeus preoccupied Orcus and his Archfiends did much the same with a number of other demon lords. In one corner of the sky, Dispater was facing off against a humanoid with avian feet, four feathered wings, and a bird-like beak Ainz thought might be Pazuzu. At the same time, some distance away on the ground a pair of sensual humans with small horns and glowing red eyes fought a gigantic Minotaur with coarse black fur that covered his body. There were other duels afoot between the Devils and Demons but the flurry of action and titanic spells being tossed around made it difficult for even Ainz to fully keep track.

_That's the Demons settled. I hope._ The Overlord thought as he surveyed the rest of the battle with dismay. Even with the Demons now largely countered by the arrival of his Devilish allies, the enemy host was still vast and unending. He was rushing reinforcements in from across Felmid but despite the swelling numbers of his own forces, his troops were still greatly outnumbered.

"My Lord, the second line in Sector 3 has just been breached!" The Momon in command of the killzone reported with a pinched and worried expression. "They report that the forces in the area are being led by the god Talos himself."

_Sector 3?_ Ainz thought as he tried to recall the layout of the defenses of the Kanto killzone. _That's pretty close to the entrance to the cavern where Nazarick is. If it falls then they'll have a clear run to the Tomb._

"Let the defenders in Sector 3 know that I-"

A collection of power reaching across immense distances of time and space touched Ainz's mind. Allowing them passage onto Felmid, he smirked even as corrected himself.

_It seems like my outreach to the Primordials has borne fruit after all._

"Let the defenders in Sector 3 know that help is on the way."

* * *

At Sector 3 itself, Enri Emmott pulled her legions back in as orderly a fashion as she could as the one eyed god ravaged their retreating ranks with all manner of destructive forces. The Destroyer truly lived up to his name as with every gesture he unleashed storms, huge blazes, earthquakes, or tornadoes against her troops.

_Things had been going so well at first too!_ The Momon bemoaned as she pulled a tank battalion back before it was washed away by a tsunami sent its way by Talos.

Against her legions armed with the advanced weapons of Felmid, the one eyed god's army of ravagers, raiders, looters, and brigands armed with medieval weapons and armor were no match at all. They were thus able to mow them down by the thousands. And then their god had come and with his power tore their carefully constructed fortifications apart and destroyed their well ordered formations with casual ease.

"Are reinforcements coming?" Enri asked the Elder Lich that served as her adjutant as she saw Talos literally rip a whole fort made of concrete that must have weighed tens of thousands of tons out of the ground with his bare hands and tossed it at an artillery battery in the rear of her lines.

"High Command reports that they are on the way, my Lady."

"Yeah? Where is it?"

To this the Elder Lich just pointed into the sky above them where a large portal was forming. From it stepped out a vaguely humanoid figure made entirely out of swirling clouds who with a wave of her hand sucked Talos into the air in a tornado. The god resisted trying to blast his way out with bolts of lightning and bursts of his own winds but whoever this new arrival was, it was clearly more powerful.

Once in the air, it lunged at Talos manifesting a pair of scimitars of howling winds. The Storm Lord sent a bolt of lightning right through his attackers torso, blasting a hole through the mass of clouds but the woman was undeterred and bisected the god, even as her wound closed as clouds streamed in to fill it from the air itself.

Seeing their god fall, Talos' troops lost heart and began to rout. Even more so when a host of Air Elementals and flying monsters of all types poured from the portal the cloud woman had arrived through and fell upon them from the air. Rallying her own troops, Enri was more than happy to help this along.

"Death to the enemies of Ainz Ooal Gown!" Enri shouted, spurring on her troops. Her cry quickly picked up by the various sapient undead under her command in a chant that echoed all around them as they hurled the enemy back.

* * *

It was to this rout of the dead Storm Lord's host that Ainz stepped into as he stepped out of his Gate into Sector 3 flanked by Aura and her pack of beasts. He'd sensed Talos' death, having absorbed the god's essence as he was slain along with the others who had died elsewhere. Out of all the Sectors, this was the most vulnerable. With its lines all but fallen, it was only wise to reinforce them a little. Besides, he needed to greet his newest allies.

" **Meteor Fall.** " Ainz cast absently, causing a falling meteor to fall from the sky in a trail of shimmering light. It blinded many in the surrounding battlefield, especially among the mainly humanoid ranks of Talos' worshipers, and left them unaware as the piece of falling celestial rock smashed into the heart of their clustered, fleeing ranks. The explosion caused by its impact flattened everything for a good distance, killing many thousands of the enemy.

"Impressive," Akadi said as the primordial of air and goddess of elemental air said as she drifted over to Ainz's position. "For a mortal caster."

"With Talos dead, they are simply mortals. No need to waste any more power than necessary dealing with them." The Overlord told the cloud woman. "Thank you for coming, Akadi."

"Think nothing of it." The primordial said with a shrug. "Gods massing to attack a lone primordial? To stand aside would set a dangerous precedent. If they could kill you, then what's stopping them from killing me next?"

"And the chance to kill some gods had nothing to do with it?"

The primordial woman's only response was a sigh. "That did not factor into my thinking but I cannot say the same for the rest of our fellows."

Looking out into the distance, Ainz could only agree as in the distance the armies of the primordials Grumbar, Istishia, and Kossuth wreaked havoc throughout the ranks of the invaders. The primordials themselves had even squared off against a god or two. Grumbar's mountain sized golem form - which bore an uncanny resemblance to Gargantua now that Ainz thought of it - was caught up in a wrestling match with a 25-foot tall hill giant, wearing several belts of woven dwarf beards who the Overlord thought was likely the Giant god Grolantor. Istishia taking the shape of a sentient tsunami that swept to and fro across the battlefield was in an almost friendly competition with the pillar of flame that was Kossuth as to how many of the intermediate and lesser deities they could kill. Ainz wasn't exactly keeping count on who was in the lead but he _had_ absorbed the essence of a dozen of their victims already. Normally such a move would have likely caused all the gods on the field and elsewhere to gang up against them, but the gathered gods had another target.

"It appears that the gods have sensed your presence." Akadi told him as she drifted up into the air as a group of gods marched towards him. "I will hold off as many as you can."

"You have my thanks," Ainz told her absently as he prepared for battle. "Aura, do not engage the gods. They are mine. Deal with their followers."

"As you command, Lord Ainz." The Dark Elf said with clear reluctance as she backed away even as the floating emerald brain that was Ilsensine and a massive green serpent with red floating orbs floating in empty eye sockets with feathery eyebrows that was the Yuan-ti god Zehir closed.

"Die you undead abomination!" Ilsensine screeched as it hurled a massive bolt of raw telekinetic power at Ainz.

_How plebeian._

" **Widen Magic: Mirror Alice."** Ainz cast lazily using metamagic to widen the scope of what the spell could affect to include psychic attacks and redirecting the attack at Zehir who had lunged at him like a viper. The telekinetic blast caught the serpentine god mid lunge and tossed him into the air where he slammed into Sseth which had taken on the form of a winged version of one of the yuan-ti and had been dueling with Akadi.

The blow distracted Sseth and his head was cut off by Akadi's scimitars but this move left the primordial open to a bite from Zehir though the Lady of Air escaped harm by simply casting aside the part of her body the Master of Poisons and Shadows had sunk his venomous fangs into.

With Akadi taking over the task of dealing with Zehir, Ilsensine became Ainz's only remaining opponent. Seemingly realizing this and the disadvantage this put him in, the emerald brain tried to retreat but the Ruler of Felmid would not let him escape so easily.

" **Triplet Maximize Magic: Reality Slash!"**

At his invocation, three attacks that cleaved through the very fabric of space cut into the cephalopod-like mass of the Illithid deity leaving deep gouges in its flesh. The greater deity howled in unfamiliar agony, but Ainz had no mercy and prepared to deal the coup de grâce. However, moments before he could he sensed a presence nearby and redirected his attack at the interloper.

" **Fallen Down!"**

A huge pillar of blue light slammed down from the sky onto what appeared to be empty ground. Though the cry of pain that emerged from the center of the target zone revealed it was far from empty. As the light faded, it revealed a smoking, indistinct but clearly feminine figure wearing a tattered cloak emblazoned with a large stylized raven's head.

"The Raven Queen?" Ainz asked angrily, even as he allowed the grievously wounded Ilsensine to escape by teleporting off Felmid. "How presumptuous of you to come here and play the vulture, to belittle this struggle with your opportunism. You will pay for that."

The Raven Queen tried to get away, shifting its shape into a large raven and trying to fly off but Ainz had no mercy for carrion eaters like her.

" **Triplet Maximize Magic: Obsidian Sword."** Ainz cast, launching three swords that gave off a black light at they shot through the air at his fleeing target like missiles. Homing in on their targets, they detonated with the force of a tactical nuclear weapon and vaporized the wouldbe soul stealer.

Even as he dealt with the Raven Queen, he sensed Akadi's essence enter his grasp.

_She fell!?_ Ainz thought as she spun around to see if he could spot her killer, even as he gathered her essence and metaphorically put it to one side so he could revive her later.

In the distance he saw Aura, Mare and Cocytus fighting a god in the shape of a dragon made entirely of darkness and was tempted to go assist. However, before he could he found Akadi's slayers advancing on him. One was the familiar but now wounded Zehir whose form was covered in many slash wounds undoubtedly courtesy of Akadi's scimitars. He was however joined by a god in the guise of a Lich which didn't take Ainz much effort to realize was the infamous Vecna.

Ainz ground his teeth and prepared to avenge his fellow primordial when suddenly the ground shook violently. Throughout the battle, tremors had been common as the various beings capable of such caused earthquakes or simply from things slamming into the ground with great force however this quake was different.

Ainz, Zehir and Vecna all spun to its point of origin and were quite shocked to see a large chunk of the earth had been disintegrated, exposing the cavern that contained Nazarick. Standing triumphantly at the edge of the crater he had created, stood the one eyed orc that was the chosen form of the orc god of war Gruumsh.

Ainz moved to intercept the orc god but Zehir slipped in front of him.

"Out of my way," the Overlord of Felmid hissed.

An unfamiliar rotting spell of some type slammed into his side courtesy of Vecna but Ainz paid it little mind beyond retaliating on instinct with a **Maximize Magic: Vermilion Nova** that proceeded to set the Maimed God ablaze in a pillar of fire. Instead, he focused his attention on Zehir and getting him out of the way.

" **Triplet Maximize Magic: Reality Slash!"**

At his invocation, three tears in reality tore the serpent god into pieces that Ainz absently pushed aside even as the essence of the god that once animated the corpse flowed into his being. The delay caused by Zehir and Vecna's distraction was minor but it was enough for Enri and a small contingent of her army to throw themselves at Gruumsh in a futile attempt to stop him. Even as her troops were slaughtered by the war god, Ainz sensed that Victim was carrying out the orders he'd been given.

Committing suicide, the misshapen pink fetus of an Angel unleashed his special ability causing all the foes of Nazarck, of Ainz, to become bound by chains of holy light. At the same time, an army of Nazarick's myriad NPCs surged out of the Great Tomb led by the hulking mass of Gargantua via its main entrance and a massive portal. Ainz saw little of this, his attention was on Gruumsh who effortlessly shattered Victim's chains and thrust his spear through Enri as the Momon charged at him in her true form with a magically enchanted cavalry sabre raised over her withered body.

The moment the war god's weapon pierced through her body, Enri's body disintegrated and a fury that Ainz didn't know he could feel surged through his system. Suzuki Satoru was no stranger to death. As a child he'd been the one to find his mother's dead body and in the dystopia of his Earth he'd come across more than one over time. And in his short time as Ainz Ooal Gown he'd seen plenty of death. This battle alone, he felt the death of many thousands, maybe millions, many of whom he killed himself. Yet, till now he'd not seen someone he knew and arguably liked die, and even though their association was short he _was_ fond of the Momon. It reminded him that this was _not_ a game. That people could _die_. That he could get people killed.

This realization _should_ have scared him. But it didn't. It instead made him angry beyond words. All his life as Suzuki Satoru, his life had been a plaything for his betters. To them he was a cog in the machines they built for their own success. Even in YGGDRASIL, his only point of joy in his dreary life, he had been used in a way by his friends. He, the guild they created, Nazarick, to them it had been nothing more than a fun distraction even as he put his heart and soul into it. He didn't fault them for it, not really, but there was resentment there. And an unconscious oath to himself that he would never be like them when given the chance. That he would _never_ see others, be they his peers or his subordinates as anything less than treasured partners in his endeavors. Yet, as he saw Enri die for him, he realized he'd failed.

_No! I will not fail!_ _ **NO!**_ Ainz roared in his mind as his soul burned with a fury that the emotional suppressor that came with his new undead existence could not even hope to restrain.

Raw emotion and immense power flowed from the very depths of his new strange being and burst out of his body as a pillar of darkness so dark that it drew in light from the world, bleaching all color and reducing everything to shades of grey. An effect that spread across all of Felmid instantly but rapidly propagated across all of Realmspace. In all the places it touched, all color vanished. Only three points of light remained. Ainz's eyes and the orb in his torso, which all glowed with a malicious, furious red light.

Behind him, he heard Vecna curse and toss a barrage of unfamiliar spells his way to cover his escape before teleporting away realizing like Ilsensine before him that continuing this fight was suicidal. Despite the spells splashing annoyingly but harmlessly against his aura, Ainz let him. He was no longer concerned with the so-called Archlich. All his ire was focused on the pathetic god before him.

To Gruumsh's credit, he didn't flinch even as Ainz leveled the full weight of his fury at him. Bravely he stood his ground, his spear held at the ready and his muscles tense for what he must assume would be the fight of his life if the eager grin on his face was anything to go by.

" **Fool!"** Ainz said, his voice booming through the very souls of all of Realmspace's inhabitants. " **Do you think I'd give you the satisfaction of a fight? No, you do not deserve it. Die! Die, like the worm you are!"**

With that command, Ainz exerted his will like he had previously only done against Shar. But where in that case he'd been cautious and held back, here he had no such reservations. With the full weight of the formidable power granted to him by Nameless and now bolstered immensely by the divine essences he'd collected Ainz Ooal Gown pressed down on Gruumsh and his spark of life. It burned like a blazing inferno as befit a greater deity but Ainz's power was like an ocean of darkness as it swept the orc god's being into its depths and smothered it.

To the outside observer all this played out rather anticlimactically but no less shockingly. One minute Gruumsh was standing defiantly against the released power of Ainz Ooal Gown and the next he simply wasn't there. Every piece of his being had disappeared from Creation, leaving nought behind but memories that would soon be forgotten.

Ainz saw this and was left unsatisfied. Yes, Gruumsh was dead. But there remained plenty more enemies that threatened his people, threatened to make him even more of a failure than he already was. Slowly, ominously, the Overlord of Felmid turned to face the enemy armies and their divine leaders.

Even his allies flinched back from his gaze but they had nothing to fear. Only his enemies did. And fear they did. All of them, without exception turned to flee, rightfully trying to escape from his deadly wrath but this time Ainz would not let them. God or Demon. None of his enemies could escape, no matter how hard they battered at the metaphysical restrictions he placed on the area that trapped them in so many different ways.

" **Ainz Ooal Gown, that is enough."** Lord Ao said, appearing suddenly, putting a hand on Ainz's shoulder even as the world lost the last of its color and was replaced with a familiar void.

Ainz turned to the Overgod and glared.

" **Do not let your emotions get the better of you,"** the more powerful divinity told him sternly. " **Preventing such was why Nameless made sure you had that emotion suppressor in the first place."**

Ainz just continued to glare at Lord Ao.

The Overgod just sighed.

" **I understand your anger at your failure. Your shame. I have been in your position before, so I know full well how you feel."**

" **Then how can you ask me to just calm down?"** Ainz demanded.

" **Because if you keep this up then you're likely to restart the Dawn War and that will mean more deaths among your loved ones, more failures."** Lord Ao told him bluntly. " **Is that what you want?"**

Ainz recoiled at this.

" **No. Of cou** rse not!" His anger bleeding out of it as horror set in at the realization that the Overgod was right.

" **Good. Then let me handle things when we return."**

Ainz merely nodded and suddenly they were back in the battlefield on Felmid. His aura had faded though and the world was back to normal. He suspected it would appear to onlookers as if Lord Ao had used his powers to restrain his own rather than just pulling him aside and talking him down, which was probably wholly deliberate on the Overgod's part. Not that such thoughts occupied much of his attention. The majority was centered on feeling guilty over what had transpired, at his failures whilst the remainder was devoted to hearing what Lord Ao had to say.

" **Orcus, you and your allies are to return to your domains at once."**

Not waiting for any response, the Overgod flexed his powers and forcibly teleported the Demon lord and his many allies away.

"Are they to escape punishment, Lord Ao?" Asmodeus asked, sounding a cross between polite and scandalized.

" **Of course not."** Lord Ao said with a slight glare for the Lord of Lies' impertinence. " **But their punishment has already been exacted from them."**

"I don't understand." Asmodeus said, blinking in what might have passed for genuine confusion if not for the subtle amusement he radiated.

" **They have, all of them, have lost much today. Either their lives and their divine essences with them or the lesser essences of the many followers they led to their deaths. All of those are now forfeit."** Here he turned to look at Ainz. " **And has been claimed by Ainz Ooal Gown as his rightful spoils and which he may distribute as he sees fit."**

"You have my thanks Lord Ao for letting me keep this bountiful harvest." Ainz said, sketching a polite bow. He might still be somewhat shaken by his emotional breakdown earlier but he wasn't about to embarrass himself in front of the Overgod and his divine allies.

_Fake it till you make it._ The Overlord reminded himself.

" **Distribute it well."** Lord Ao said with a nod, before vanishing as abruptly as he'd come leaving behind a Felmidian Kanto Plain that was even more ravaged than it had ever been.

* * *

It was an hour or so after the conclusion of the battle and Ainz sat on the Throne of Kings in Nazarick's Throne Room while his allies sat on various thrones that his homunculus maids had moved out of the Treasury for them under Pandora's Actor's direction.

"I can understand resurrecting myself or your subjects." Akadi said with a frown as she gestured towards the newly resurrected Enri who stood respectfully but in a place of honor in the further sections of the expansive hall where the divinities' various lieutenants were respectfully observing their superiors' conclave. "But why resurrect her?"

"I must agree with the Lady of Air on this, Ainz." Asmodeus said seated at the throne closest to the dais as befitting his first ally. "The Raven Queen is not to be trusted. Her motivations and everything about her really is too enigmatic. It will be difficult to engender anything worthwhile from such an act of mercy."

"Being merciful is not about being rewarded." Ainz said as he began gathering his power and causing a cloud of dark energy to begin coalescing at the foot of the dais, in front of the Throne of Kings and between Asomedues and Akadi. It took a few moments but eventually, the darkness formed into the indistinct, feminine shape of the Raven Queen complete with the cloak that she wrapped tightly around her body to further obscure her figure.

"Why?" The mysterious deity of the Shadar-kai asked in a barely audible whisper. "Why did you revive me?"

"As presumptuous as you were Raven Queen to attempt to steal my spoils during the battle, you were at least not an enemy."

"That did not stop you from killing me."

"I do not suffer vultures." Ainz reminded her sternly.

If the Raven Queen was cowed by the rebuke she didn't show it.

"What do you want from me?" She asked, in her unchanged whispering voice.

"An Oath of Friendship." Ainz said, "And a promise that you will not try to circumvent it by looking for loopholes in the Oath. At least not without giving me fair warning in advance."

"How generous," the Raven Queen said sarcastically.

"Would you rather I kill you again?" Ainz asked, lifting the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown and pointing it at her meaningfully.

"You'll have your Oath." The Raven Queen spat. "By my name, I swear that I will henceforth be a friend to Ainz Ooal Gown and his children. I also promise that I will not seek to break the spirit or word of this Oath. This I all solemnly swear."

Ainz nodded in satisfaction.

"Then with your permission, may I leave?"

Ainz's only answer was a small activation of his power as he banished her back to her Home Plane of Shadowfell.

"Banishing her like that. I didn't think you could do that." Grumbar noted from where he sat at the last throne of Ainz's left, as far away from Akadi as possible whilst still being seated with his fellow primordials. "The Raven Queen might not be a god or a primordial but she is still a being of equivalent power. To simply banish her like that is not an easy feat."

"I learned it from observing what Lord Ao did when he banished Orcus and his lot." Ainz admitted, causing the various Archdevils seated across from the primordials to begin exchanging harsh whispers that were swiftly silenced by a harsh look from Asmodeus from his place at the head of their row of thrones.

"Impressive, Ainz, your power grows with every passing day it seems." The Prince of Evil praised. "Soon you might rival Lord Ao himself in power."

"Silence, you fool Devil. Do you want us punished by Lord Ao your impertinence." Istishia took a moment out of his busy comparison of the number of kills he'd made during the battle that he'd been having with Kossuth throughout the whole time they'd been gathered to hiss at Asmodeus.

The Archfiend just smiled knowingly and raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"You know something don't you, Devil?" Kossuth, now sporting the form of a humanoid fire elemental said. "Something about what Ainz Ooal Gown is."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the Lord of Lies said with a straight face.

"Of course you don't." The sea serpent shaped column of animated water that was Istishia snorted. "I can't believe I'm agreeing with Kossuth on anything but you're fooling no one, Asmodeus."

That Akadi and Grumbar nodded in agreement spoke volumes.

"Even if I do, it is not the time to share what I know." Asmodeus said mysteriously. "So let us move on shall we?"

"Very well, Asmodeus." Ainz cut in with finality. "But when the time is right, you _will_ tell me what you know."

"You have my word."

"Like that's worth anything." Grumbar grumbled.

The Archfiend ignored the Lord of the Earth however and addressed their mutual host.

"Tell me Ainz, what was the real reason for your generosity to the Raven Queen?"

"I've killed enough major gods this day already. There's no need to make even more enemies. Furthermore, mercy is as much a tool for garnering support as cruelty."

This tidbit earned some adoring looks and whispers of wisdom from the masses of Nazarick and Felmid denizens that were at the rear of the Throne Room but Ainz ignored it with the ease of growing familiarity. He likewise easily ignored Suzuki Satoru's lament that he shouldn't be getting used to such things.

"Oh, I agree of course." Asmodeus continued. "But are you sure your mercy will yield fruit?"

"In regards to the Raven Queen and her Oath? No, I have no such expectations. They are immaterial anyway. The main goal for my actions is to make an impression on the other gods, those that have not already declared me their enemy that is."

"You wish to appear fair?" Akadi asked, her brows furrowed as she tried to puzzle out Ainz's motives.

"And trustworthy."

"Being lawful is a good way to earn trust." Asmodeus said with a grin. "And you're on the right track there already."

More than one person, Ainz included, rolled their eyes at the Lord of Lies' statement. He was one of the premiere lawful entities in the Realm, yet no one had any illusions as to him actually being trustworthy.

"Setting that aside," Kossuth cut in impatiently. "What do you intend to do with the divinity you still have in your possession? By my count you have the essence of at least two greater deities and a number of lesser ones of various ranks, do you not? How do you intend to distribute it?"

"I intend to use them to elevate select individuals among my loyal subjects to godhood as my subordinate deities."

Istishia recoiled at the announcement and shook his head in disgust. The others though seem darkly amused.

"Gods serving a primordial?" Kossuth said, expressing the majority's thoughts on the matter. "How fitting."

"I thought so," Ainz said with a grin. He did share not share the same reasoning for it as his fellow primordials but the sentiment was there at least and that was good enough for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> I hope the large scale battle that dominated much of the chapter was an enjoyable read. I put quite a bit of effort into it. I had toyed with the idea of giving it even more detail by adding in some more POVs from the grunts or at least the Nazarick Floor Guardians so as to give more of an impression of just how chaotic and insane it was but it just felt like bloat. Especially as I would be doing this after I'd written out the main events and would have me then essentially slotting them in rather artificially. So in the end, I decided against it. That this means the chapter isn't too long is a plus.
> 
> There are plenty of hints as to what Nameless and Ao hope Ainz will become in this chapter and they are pretty obvious if I say so myself. I won't say what they are or answer the question as to what Ainz will become. That is if you still have any doubts. ;)
> 
> Well, that's all for this chapter. Till next time, avisala!


	7. Realmfall 7: Rewards

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Realmfall**

**Chapter 7: Rewards**

**Beta:**

* * *

Two days after the Battle of Felmid, the leaders of the victorious defenders and their allies gathered in the new crater that housed the Great Tomb of Nazarick as Ainz prepared to honor those among his servants who had shown exemplary service during the battle.

"My children, denizens of Nazarick, honored guests," Ainz said addressing everyone. "Today I am pleased to have you join me as I recognize of those who have shown exemplary service to me since my arrival to Realmspace."

_Is it really okay to keep it so brief?_ Ainz mused to himself as he moved to the first of his subordinates he sought to elevate. _I know Pandora's Actor assured me that short and simple was best, but it rattles my salaryman sensibilities that something as important as a recognition of service be reduced in any way. Still, it is their ceremony so if they want such an abbreviated format then I have no choice but to humor them._

"Guardian Overseer Albedo!" Ainz said as he came to stand before the Succubus as she knelt at the top of the stairs of Nazarick's central mausoleum.

"Yes, my lord." The raven haired beauty returned professionally.

"For your able contributions during the defense of Felmid-"

* * *

"Understood Mare," Albedo nodded as she received the **Message** from her fellow Guardian signifying the attack. "I'll take over notifying the others. You go rendezvous with Malwood and head to your assigned defense zone."

" _Y-yes, Albedo."_ The Dark Elf druid said as he cut the connection.

Albedo barely heard him, while she respected him too much to just cut him off, she had too much to do to exchange pleasantries. As such even as he was signing off, Albedo was turning to the cluster of Elder Liches that surrounded her in the command center that had been set up in one of the empty rooms on the 9th Floor.

"It's time." She told the undead, each one a custom creation of her beloved that was equipped with a host of spells, skills and items that would allow them to function as commanders. "Begin notifying our forces about the invasion and coordinate their mobilization."

"At once, Lady Albedo." The Liches chorused before springing to work.

For her part, the Guardian Overseer walked to the Mirror of Remote Viewing that had been set up in the center of the room and began adjusting it to get a better view of the battle. The sight she saw caused a frown to spread across her beautiful face as seemingly endless hordes of enemies kept coming and swarming their defenses even as they were killed in droves. It was a bloody war of attrition that she feared they would lose.

Seeing the hordes she unconsciously fingered Ginnungagap, wanting to use its destructive power to even up the odds some but knew better. Her talents were better used here coordinating their forces than on the battlefield itself. That and this battle would not be decided by either side's armies.

_No, the real battle here is between gods._ Albedo thought as she saw Asmodeus and his devils arrive, immediately drawing the invading Demon lords and their hosts away from the rest of the battle.

_That however does not mean we can afford to lose against the enemy's armies either._

"Contact Sebas." Albedo said as she eyed an area of their lines buckling. "Have him take his flight of Dragons and reinforce Sector 8. It is on the verge of buckling."

"At once, my lady." One of the Elder Liches responded.

Albedo ignored him, already back to examining the battlefield and looking for what she could do to assist her side.

* * *

"-I hereby grant you the rank of intermediate deity and the portfolios of administration, love and beauty." Ainz declared as she channeled some of the divine essence he'd acquired from the battle into Albedo in the form of a swirling mass of brilliant white light.

The Succubus absorbed the light readily and her back arched as the power suffused her being. Her form did not change at all, though it seemed enhanced now somehow. Perhaps it was the soft aura of divine power that now wafted off her. Ainz couldn't really be sure.

Ainz waited for her to settle from her transformation and in the meantime thought about what he'd given her. He'd been somewhat exasperated at bestowing the latter two portfolios on her but she had insisted and while he saw them as unnecessary additions he'd ultimately seen no harm in it. Having three domains _would_ , as she'd said, serve to distinguish her from the other Guardians. Plus the two matched, so it made sense to add them together.

That her last two domains fit well with the _other_ boon she had requested from him as well just strengthened her argument. He'd already begun awarding her that boon, at great reluctance, last night and would have to do so for the rest of his life most likely.

_I should_ never _have sworn that oath to grant them one wish._ It had been a spur of the moment move on his part to reward his Guardians a wish in addition to their impending godhood for their exemplary service in the battle but it had backfired. He'd caught himself almost immediately, but before he could add caveats she had made her demand. At that point, it was either step up or become a liar and Satoru refused to lie to any of his children if he could help it.

_It left me feeling dirty afterwards… But I can't deny it was good._ Ainz admitted. It had taken a little experimental shapeshifting on his part, something his new nature as a primordial allowed but which he had never tried till then buy it had been worth it though in the end.

_Though why did she have to include Shalltear..._

Thanking his new nature's ability to suppress emotions or he'd likely be a blushing mess, Ainz saw that Albedo's apotheosis was complete and so he moved on. Studiously ignoring the flirtatious look his Succubus consort shot him, he walked over to Sebas Tian.

"Steward Sebas Tain!"

"Yes, Lord Ainz."

"For your bravery during the defense of Felmid-"

* * *

Sebas frowned as he beheld the chaos in the Kanto Plain as Felmid's desperately outnumbered defenders fought to contain the invaders.

"Lord Sebas," the Black Dragon on whose back the Iron Butler of Nazarick rode called out as he and the rest of the Dragons of Felmid flew into the battlefield from Zeus. "We're almost over Sector 8."

"Very good." Sebas said with the collectedness as befit the House Steward of the Great Tomb. "Then once we are overhead. We shall do as we discussed."

"Yes, Lord Sebas." The Dragon replied as he led his fellows into a dive towards the beleaguered section of the Kanto lines where at a glance Sebas could see an ocean of Goblins were on the verge of pushing the first line of defenders from their redoubts through their sheer weight of numbers.

This advantage largely evaporated though as the Dragons swooped low and strafed the Goblin hordes with their breath weapons. In a single pass the Dragons of Felmid slew tens of thousands of Goblins and bought the defenders of Sector 8 some breathing room.

Nodding in satisfaction, Sebas leapt off his mount's back.

_Time for me to play my part._ The Dragonoid thought as he landed in front of the defensive line, leaving a crater from the force of his fall but showing no sign of it as he walked out and towards the regrouping sea of Goblins.

_Now, I can't have them regathering their courage, now can I?_ Sebas thought, as he blurred forward and slammed into the enemy ranks before him.

Such was the speed and fury, his charge alone sent dozens of goblins flying. Hundreds more joined them as he began unleashing his skills on the Goblins. Mowing them down he moved up and down the line of Sector 9, keeping them away from its fortifications as the Dragons cut deep into their hind ranks with strafing runs. This thinned the horde and kept the forts safe thus allowing them to shift their artillery and heavy weapons away from defending themselves and onto eliminating more of the enemy. Something they did with great enthusiasm as they rained down artillery of all types onto the chaotic hordes of Goblins.

In such a way, they had transformed Sector 9 from one of the weakest points on the Kanto line into one of the strongest.

* * *

"-be elevated to the rank of intermediate deity of duty."

"You have my thanks, my lord." The Dragonoid said as the swirling orb of energy that was his new divine essence fused with his being.

Like with Albedo, Ainz took the time for the transformation to complete to recall Sebas' request of him. The butler's request had been a surprisingly simple one. All he had wanted was the chance to spread his creator, Touch Me's, ideals to this new world. Ainz had no objection to that and had already made arrangements through Asmodeus to help him start up some cults on Toril.

_I wonder why I keep getting visions of Sebas standing next to a blonde haired woman with turquoise eyes whenever I think about this cult of his. Is it a premonition or just wishful thinking?_

The Ruler of Felmid was pulled from his thoughts when Sebas' ascension completed. Perhaps because it was of a lesser level than Albedo's, Sebas' apotheosis was much quicker. Like with the Succubus, the Iron Butler was largely unchanged in appearance. All he'd gained was a sense of divine power and perfection to his being.

_I'm probably just bad at picking out the changes._ Ainz noted to himself as he moved on to Pandora's Actor.

"Pandora's Actor, my son."

"Yes, mein Vater."

Ainz powered through his irritation at his creation for his use of German despite his repeated requests for him to stop. It wouldn't do to chide the Doppelgänger on what was a day dedicated to honor his achievements. Besides formally allowing him to address him as Father and acknowledging him as his son had been his creation's one wish of him.

_Now if only I can wean him of slipping into German all the damn time._

"For your cunning and courage during the battle of Felmid-"

* * *

"You are no primordial." The eleven foot tall, black-skinned Goblin with flaming eyes, powerfully-muscled arms and sharp talons that was the god Maglubiyet said as he lifted his mighty coal-black battleaxe that constantly dripped blood and prepared to deal the killing blow.

"No I am not," Pandora's Actor admitted as he shifted out of his imitation of his father and into his own shape even as lay battered and bruised before the Goblin god. "But I fooled you long enough."

"Long enough for what, fool? For me to kill you?"

"No," the Doppelgänger said with a grin. "For this."

At this, Sebas Tain who had been using the techniques of his monk job class to suppress his presence dropped all pretense and revealed himself directly behind the Goblin god and before the deity could so much as glance at him, the Dragonoid punched him repeatedly in the spine. So quick were the blows that the butler's arms blurred. That was impressive in itself but the result was even more fantastic as the sound of snapping bone and the howl of pain from the god reached his enemies' ears.

As Sebas finally stepped back, Pandora's Actor forced himself back to his feet and took a moment to savor the sight of the Goblin god's broken body. He was already healing, his Father might have cut the fool from much of his abilities but Maglubiyet was still a god and his divine constitution meant he wouldn't be down for long. It would be long enough though. Shifting back into his Father's shape, Pandora's Actor prepared to finish this.

"Time to die, Maglubiyet." The Doppelgänger said, perfectly imitating the imperious look his Father so effortlessly used to look down on his foes. " **Reality Slash!"**

With that the head of the High Chieftain of the Goblin pantheon rolled to the ground where with a casual stab of his imitation Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown, Pandora's Actor burst it like an overripe grape. Such was how Maglubiyet died.

* * *

"-rise as the intermediate deity of treasure and intrigue."

"You honor me, mein Vater." Pandora's Actor said as the change overtook him.

Like his fellow denizens of Nazarick, the changes to Pandora's Actor's body was unnoticeable. Though he did gain the same divine aura.

_Is it just me or shouldn't there be more changes?_ Ainz thought to himself with a mental frown as he walked over to Shalltear next.

"Shalltear Bloodfallen."

"Yes, my love?" The Vampire said, earning herself a roll of her eyes from Albedo.

If he was in a human form, Ainz's response to her teasing reply would likely have been far more extreme than his Succubus lover. For the vampire was likewise one of his consorts now as well. And wasn't their little threesome last night an experience. He honestly didn't know when the two women had found the time to come up with it, but they had played him perfectly. Where Albedo used her wish to ask that he take her and Shalltear as his consorts, the vampire had used hers to make him promise to consummate it.

_Strongarmed into marrying and sleeping with two beautiful monster women after everything else? I'm really starting to feel like the protagonist in some bad harem anime right now._

Setting aside these thoughts, Ainz continued with the ceremony.

"For your actions in securing the rear during the Battle of Felmid, I hereby elevate you to-"

* * *

"Argh! Albedo! Why can't I go join the main battle!" Shalltear whined over the **Message** even as she skewered an eel like Semon with Spuit Lance and drained it of its life force.

" _Because someone has to defend our teleport nexus."_ Albedo reminded her. " _Or we won't be able to reinforce our lines properly."_

Shalltear growled as she acknowledged the point. She didn't have to like it though. She hated fighting underwater!

"Lady Shalltear!" Merwyrm shouted as it pointed a set of his tentacles at a monstrous Demon that looked like a mixture of both octopus and fish swam towards them whilst surrounded by more of its smaller eel like counterparts as well as a plethora of other aquatic monsters. "Looks like the main force has arrived."

"I call dibs on Dagon," the True Vampire said as she readied herself for the battle of her life as she eyed the largest of the Demons which she'd recognized from the many lessons Albedo had forced on all the Guardians to familiarize them with their new Realm. "You can handle his army."

"As you command, my Lady."

"You lot!" Shalltear said, addressing the small undead army she'd brought with her. "Stay in the teleport nexus. _Do not_ sally out. No matter what. Your job is to defend it at all costs. So do that. Or else."

The various wraiths and other specters chorused their agreement and retreated back to the large structure made of coral and shipwrecks that was the Sea of Japan Teleport Nexus. Shalltear would have preferred bringing more powerful troops with her, but most of her subordinates lacked any items that let them operate easily underwater. And despite the vast collection of clothing her creator, Lord Peroroncino, had provided her she had only one set of swimwear that actually allowed freedom of movement underwater and was not just cosmetic. That meant the only troops that could fight worth a damn in the defense of the teleport nexus were the various ghostly monsters. She'd brought all of those but was still feeling underprepared.

_And that's not even taking into account the Demon lord._

Shalltear might not be the brightest but even she knew she would be grossly outmatched by a Demon lord. Yet…

_It isn't going to stop me. For Lord Momonga! For my love!_ The True Vampire shouted in her mind as she charged the fearsome Demon lord.

* * *

"-intermediate deity of blood and mayhem."

"You honor me, husband." Shalltear said, clearly determined to be a tease today.

Ainz allowed himself a mental sigh of annoyance and watched as the True Vampire underwent her apotheosis. Unlike with the others before her, Shalltear's body _did_ change. If only in a small way. Where before she had a child-like body and had to pad her corset to pretend at the bust she displayed, something he'd found out when she'd quite enthusiastically given him a striptease last night, now there would be no need for any padding. In fact in a rather unseemly display, as her breasts expanded the vampire had reached through her dress with her powers, pulled said padding out and tossed them over her shoulder.

Albedo hissed in annoyance at the sight and Ainz palmed his face, but Shalltear just unrepentantly shot them both an impish smirk.

"Shalltear." Ainz sharply.

"Yes, husband?"

"We will have words about what you just did. Later."

"Of course," the now legitimately well endowed silver haired beauty said as she offered him what might have passed for an apologetic bow if not for the fact that she also used the opportunity to push up and emphasize her new cleavage.

Recognizing a lost cause when he saw one, Ainz just sighed audibly and moved on. That this earned a pout from his teasing minx of a consort made him smile.

"Demiurge," the Overlord said, allowing none of his mirth show as he addressed his diabolical Guardian. "For your exemplary leadership during the Battle of Felmid-"

* * *

"Have the Ninth African Legion reinforce Sector 7."

"Yes, Lady Albedo."

"Albedo!" Demiurge shouted to be heard over the din as he entered the command center ahead of a small retinue of his minions.

"Demiurge," the Succubus greeted distractedly. Not once looking away from the Mirror of Remote Viewing that she was using to survey the battle. "What took you so long?"

"A number of enemies made it down into the Underdark." The Creator of the Blazing Inferno told her as he came to stand beside her. "I had to help Baragon fight them off. I was forced to leave Evil Lords Wrath and Envy to reinforce his troops."

"Unfortunate," Albedo noted. "We could use them up top. This is a battle of attrition."

"Yes, it is. And that means we cannot afford to have our supply lines cut."

"Agreed." Albedo said after barking orders for the Elder Liches to relay to the frontlines. "I have the main battle in hand. Could you?"

"Certainly." Demiurge nodded, before turning to see that his subordinates had already finished setting up his command station as he requested. "Leave command of the secondary battles to me."

"Thank you," the Guardian Overseer said distractedly as she issued another set of orders to the Elder Liches.

Deciding not to distract the Succubus any further, the well dressed Devil walked over to his command station. He had his own battles to fight.

* * *

"-I raise you up as the intermediate god of cunning and strategy."

As Demiurge ascended, Ainz noted that he was not wearing his Creator Ulbert Alain Odle's old equipment that he'd been granted as his one wish. The devil had initially stubbornly refused the extra reward at all, but Ainz had eventually, with the help of Albedo and suggestions from Asmodeus, had convinced him to accept the equipment for 'safekeeping'. He'd honestly expected the devil to wear it as a badge of pride from then on, but was surprised that it didn't seem to be the case.

"It is done, my Lord." Demiurge said, offering a deep bow of gratitude.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Ainz moved to Cocytus. Said Insectoid warrior had only wanted a solemn promise from Ainz to be be allowed to train his heir.

_There isn't even one._

_Yet._ A treasonous part of his mind added and Ainz had to smother it even though he knew full well that it was correct. He would have to satisfy Albedo and Shalltear with a child someday. Probably at least one each and likely many more.

_Woe is me!_ Ainz thought to himself humorously.

"Cocytus rise as the god of warriors and honour."

* * *

"Hold. The. Line!" Cocytus shouted furiously to the Sliver host he commanded as they covered the retreat of an artillery battery on the edges of Sector 3. The lines in the Sector were being rapidly breached and their forces had been forced into a retreat. One that threatened to degenerate into a rout if he let it.

"Fall. Back. And. Reposition." The Vermin Lord told the Elder Lich in command of the artillery unit as it pulled back. The undead nodded in reply from atop the self-propelled artillery piece it was using as a command vehicle.

_Lord Cocytus, enemy gods sighted._ One of the Slivers fighting nearest the breach sent to him telepathically.

_Do. Not. Engage._ Nazarick's 5th Floor Guardian sent back. _Leave. Them. To. Lord Ainz._

_Understood._ The Slivers sent back collectively, radiating disappointment.

It was a feeling Cocytus shared, he too wished to fight and possibly defeat a god for Lord Ainz. But he knew he had made the right decision. Both Demiurge and Albedo agreed that not even Floor Guardians could realistically match a god. Not alone. Thus the best use of their prowess was not in fighting impossible battles but in thinning the enemy hordes. With the two great minds both saying the same thing, who was Cocytus to second guess them.

That said…

_If I get the chance to team up with another Guardian against a god, I will seize it._ The warrior thought as he took the heads off a pack of Illithids who foolishly tried to attack him with a single swipe of his God Slaying Emperor Blade whilst he used his halberd, Decapitation Fang to cleave a giant in half.

* * *

With Cocytus' apotheosis done, Ainz walked over to the twins who had requested that they be elevated together. Considering they did most things as a unit, Ainz was happy to oblige them.

"Aura Bella Fiora, Mare Bello Fiore." Ainz said, offering them both a kind smile. He had quite the soft spot for them after all.

Especially when their requests of him were so simple. Aura had wanted new beasts and Mare new plants. Both were easy enough and he'd already sent his minions out into the Realm to bring back any and all new flora and fauna for the twins.

"For your actions in the Battle of Felmid, I grant Aura the rank of intermediate deity and the portfolio of youth and beasts. Mare, in turn, will become the intermediate god of youth and nature."

* * *

"Cocytus!" Aura shouted as she rode over to the battle between her fellow Floor Guardian and an impenetrable region of blackness in the shape of a dragon that had just swooped down on the Vermin Lord's position. "Team up!"

"Agreed." The Insectoid warrior shouted as he backed away from his opponent.

"T-That's Null." Mare said from where he was riding clutching tightly to Aura's waist. Her brother having joined her shortly after she'd split off from Lord Ainz. "He's the Dragon god of death and undeath. His touch can supposedly cause instant death."

"Ranged attacks only. Got it. Cocytus did you hear that?"

"I. Did." The Guardian of the 5th Floor said as he backed away further and fired cutting blades of wind and pillars of ice at the Dragon god.

At the same time, Aura drew her bow and whistled. As she fired her arrow, it was joined by dozens of other projectiles of various types from her many beasts. This was in addition to the restraining roots that courtesy of Mare were already shooting out of the earth to trap their opponent.

"You will have to do better than this, mortals." The Dragon god scoffed in a dusty croak as it unleashed a burst of negative energy that deflected their attacks.

"W-We have only begun to fight." Mare taunted hesitantly.

"Brave words." Null said as he reared up on its hind legs and charged its breath weapon. "Let us see how long you can maintain such bravery."

"Long. Enough." Cocytus said blurring into view behind Null, even as one of the Dragon god's hind legs fell off and he collapsed, his breath weapon a beam of raw negative energy missing its mark and shooting off into the distance.

"Mare!"

"Already on it!" The druid shouted back as he caused an earthquake that sucked the dragon god underneath the ground and sealed him under tons of rock.

"Still not enough!" The god croaked as in an explosion of negative energy it tore its way out of its prison and flew into the sky.

"Gotcha." Aura hissed triumphantly as she shot one of her arrows directly into the joint that connected the dragon god's left wing to its body. Upon contact, the arrow exploded, tearing the wing off and sending the dragon crashing to the ground.

Cocytus moved in to finish the god, but a titanic explosion that eclipsed everything else unleashed in the battle so far had them all turning around to see its source only to find a hole had been blasted into the earth by some one-eyed orc god that had revealed Nazarick. The three Guardians naturally wanted to rush to intercept him, but were waylaid by Null.

Reminding them that he was still alive, he unleashed another powerful negative energy burst that they were only protected from by Mare's quick summoning of protective earthen walls.

" _I_ am your opponent." The wounded but still powerful Dragon god croaked angrily.

"Not for long!" Aura shouted defiantly.

As if in response to her words, golden chains of positive energy suddenly appeared out of nowhere and bound all the enemies of Lord Ainz to the ground.

"V-Victim. This is Victim's ability." Mare whispered in amazement even as they both watched Null struggle against his bonds. They shattered under this furious writhing but not before burning him with their positive energy leaving hissing wounds that bled darkness across his body even as he struggled to his feet.

Unfortunately, this was exactly when a massive boulder crushed him courtesy of Gargantua.

"Good aim," Aura shouted back at the golem.

"Die. This. Time." Cocytus hissed as he decapitated the pinned and confused Dragon.

They didn't have time to celebrate their victory. Nazarick was under threat, so all three Guardians spun back towards their home. But they'd barely taken a step when their god's power spiked and his aura surged. Freezing in place, they watched as the Supreme One finally lost his cool and decided to show these petty local gods what true power meant.

_I wish I had some popcorn._

* * *

"Victim," Ainz said walking over to the hovering pink fetus-like angel that was the Guardian of Nazarick's 8th Floor. It had cost a fair bit of gold from Nazarick's Treasury but the diminutive angel had been swiftly revived. A small price to pay, especially considering Ainz now had all of Felmid's resources to throw into the Exchange Box to replace the lost currency if need be.

"Tabaan Ainz (Lord Ainz)." The angel said in Enochian, the language of the angels, while dipping its head respectfully.

"For your sacrifice in the battle, I hereby elevate you to the rank of intermediate deity with the portfolios of of sacrifice and binding."

"G geh too kind, ol tabaan (You are too kind, my lord)." Victim said, as the transformation completed.

"No, Victim. If anyone is, it is you who is too kind." Ainz told him seriously.

Victim had like Demiurge refused to accept a reward and unlike the devil had Ainz's persistent prodding continued to refuse till now. Thus the primordial had resigned himself to simply granting the little angel an open request. Though he fully expected that it would never be fulfilled.

"Gargantua," Ainz said moving on and looking up at the mountain sized golem. "Accept my gift of sapience and become my intermediate god of stone."

_I wonder what it's wish will be._ Ainz pondered. Being non-sapient up to this point, Gargantua had of course not told him what it wanted yet. _Best make a mental note to ask it later._

Out of all his newly elevated pantheon, even taking Shalltear's newly enhanced bust into account, Gargantua's change was the most dramatic. Where its face was previously just a pair of round eye sockets, with Ainz's gift it morphed into a humanoid face that the Overlord recognized with a barely stifled gasp looked identical to that of Suzuki Satoru.

"I thank you, my master, for giving me true life." Gargantua said as he fell to one knee. "I live to serve your will."

"Very good." Ainz said hastily with a nod of acceptance and to hide his shock before moving on.

"Deathwing."

"Yes, my lord." The Dragon said, lowering his head respectfully from where he stood in his true form beside Gargantua.

"For commanding my fleet admirably in the battle against Atropus, I would elevate you to the rank of lesser deity and the portfolio of the vacuum."

"I am honored, Bone Father." The dragon said as the apotheosis took hold and the membranes between his wings disappeared and were replaced by an ever shifting starfield instead.

_Nice touch there._ Ainz thought as he moved on to the last of those he sought to rise to godhood.

Kneeling before him and patiently waiting her turn was Enri Emmott. She was in her true form so the youthful beauty of her human shape was hidden away, however in its place her martial pride was on full display. She was wearing an elaborate riding habit decorated with various trimmings and accoutrements with a very militaristic bent and strapped to her waist was her sheathed enchanted cavalry blade.

"Enri Emmot."

"Yes, mighty Bone Father?" Enri said, bowing low.

"For your bravery and heroic sacrifice during the battle, I hereby grant you the rank of lesser deity and issue you with dominion over the portfolio of battle."

Like with Gargantua, a great change overtook Enri's form as Ainz poured her new essence into her. It shifted back into her human shape, her clothing resizing automatically to accommodate her smaller stature in this form but with one noticeable difference. Where her hair in her human form had originally been blonde, it had become strands of blazing flames. And where her eyes had once been brown, they now were fiery orbs. Last but not least, a pair of flaming skeletal wings materialized from her shoulder blades.

_Most impressive._ Ainz thought to himself. _I couldn't have designed a new form for her any better than she has._

"You honor me with this boon, Bone Father." Enri said, bowing low before her superior.

"And you honored me with your actions during the battle." Ainz told her.

_Should I offer her and Deathwing an additional boon like I did those of Nazarick? No, I don't think so. At least, not for now._

With the disbursement of divine essences complete Ainz stepped back and turned to address the crowd.

"People of Felmid and Nazarick, my children all." Ainz said, hoping that he sounded regal and charismatic. "These are your new gods and goddesses. Each one risen from the ranks of your own leaders to divinity by dint of their actions in my service. Know then that you too may enjoy the same fate one day. So serve me well."

His allies exchanged amused looks at this declaration, but his subjects murmured with excitement and it was their response that he was looking for. Thus he was more than satisfied with what he got and shifted his gaze to the pantheon still kneeling at his feet.

"Rise gods and goddesses of Felmid. Rise and greet your people."

As one the pantheon did as he ordered and offering one unified bow turned to face the masses who exploded into rapturous cheers and applause.

* * *

"Ah, Ainz." Asmodeus said as he caught the Overlord lurking in a corner of the ballroom on the Great Tomb's 9th Floor where they were holding the celebratory feast for recent events. "There you are. Hiding from your new consorts?"

"No," Ainz replied hastily. Too hastily.

"Oh really now?" The Lord of the Ninth said with a grin as he searched the crowd for the Succubus and Vampire that the primordial had taken as his lovers. "Then you wouldn't mind me calling them over?"

_Oh, no you don't. I'm not subjecting myself to their argument over who is my first wife again until I absolutely have to._

"Alright, not entirely." Ainz allowed. "I'm mainly hiding here so I can observe everyone at once."

"Doesn't your omniscience allow for that already? It is absolute on Felmid is it not?"

"Omniscience and seeing things with my own eyes are two very different experiences."

Asmodeus nodded in understanding. "True enough."

"Were you looking for me?"

"Yes," the fiend said with a grin. "I wanted to offer you my congratulations on all you've achieved. It was truly wise of me to seek you out first. I'd have lost out on becoming an ally to such a powerful being as yourself otherwise."

"So we're formal allies now are we?" Ainz asked.

While he considered the devil such. He knew full well that despite all the aid he had offered Asmodeus had made no such formal commitment. And as a being of law, making things formal was very important to the devil.

"Not formally." The greatest of the archfiends said. "But we will be once I get the documents ready for Lady Albedo."

Ainz nodded in understanding. "It is good to have as 'trustworthy' allies as the Nine Hells."

"It is isn't it," the most ancient of Devils said with a smarmy grin. "Though on another note, I heard from a certain loudmouthed Vampire that you're working on making heirs?"

"Shalltear really needs a handler," Ainz said with a sigh. "But yes, you heard correctly. They both want children."

"Are you complaining?" Asmodeus asked, smirking lecherously. "They are beautiful beyond compare. Even among goddesses. Providing them children should not be a hardship."

"No I suppose not. But I had my reasons from abstaining."

"Well, you could always break your promises to them."

"No," Ainz said, his eyes burning with otherworldly flame. "My word to them is sacred."

"Then stop being a sourpuss about it."

Ainz looked at the devil strangely. "Why are you so friendly anyways?"

"Friendly allies are better than reluctant ones."

_Ah! Self interest._ Ainz nodded, comforted that he was now on firmer ground with the notoriously treacherous archfiend.

"Now, as your friendly ally, I advise you to go mingle." Asmodeus said patting Ainz on the back. "You don't want to alienate your other guests."

"Thank you for the reminder." Ainz allowed as he stepped away to do as the Devil suggested, missing as he did the satisfied grin the fiend had.

"Yes, becoming your guide to your new existence will be most profitable to me indeed."

* * *

Sometime after all the festivities over victory in the Battle of Felmid had come to an end, the Ruler of Felmid stood with a curvaceous woman with silver blonde hair and violet eyes in one of the hangars of the Zeus Spaceport looking down from a catwalk at a ramshackle looking starship.

"Father, is this really necessary?" The woman asked.

Said female was dressed in a black humanoid mechanical suit, with large shoulders, wide hips and a pair of headlights affixed near the armpits of the machine. Strapped across her back was a long barrelled chrome colored gun, while at the small of her back was another a boxy looking gun.

"I feel that it is, Draudillon." The Supreme One told the woman, the first of his avatars as he looked down on the ship longingly. "Without it I fear that I will lose any semblance of my humanity."

"There are other ways to remain connected to your humanity. There is no need to go so far as to create avatars to explore Toril."

"Ah! But the spirit of adventure, of exploration, that is the greatest part of my humanity."

Drau sighed but couldn't refute that. As a being literally forged from said adventurous spirit she could not deny just how much of it defined her Father.

"Be that as it may Father, please remember your promise."

"You have my word that I'll distance myself from you and your fellow avatars as much as possible."

"Good. If you don't I fear you'll end up just living through us vicariously."

"I understand." Father said, turning away from the ship at last. "But do you think that is likely? I do have your two Mothers to keep me company, a world to run, and divine politics to navigate."

"All of which, perhaps except for my Mothers, you would give up in a second in exchange for a chance to go exploring."

Father winced but did not deny the accusation.

"I see your point." Father reluctantly allowed. "I'll be careful."

"That's all I ask, Father." The woman said with a relieved sigh.

"Lord Ainz, Drau," a curvaceous woman with silver blonde hair and gray blue eyes wearing a black Gothic dress with a short skirt and long sleeves that flared out at the wrist said as she walked over. "The ship is ready."

"Thank you Yorha." Drau told her sister, though the android didn't know their relation, with a smile. "I'll be there shortly. Why don't you go get settled."

"As you wish, Drau."

"I still don't understand why you asked me to shape her into that." Father said, with a shake of his head.

As his firstborn avatar, Drau had been born with the full knowledge of what she was and her purpose from the moment she came into being. Which was why she interceded to prevent the same for her subsequent siblings. Yorha, or Youthful Recreation Of Humanform Android (YORHA) Bodyguard Type Serial 979787234 if she wanted to be annoyingly exact, was an example of such. She'd been born from Father's humanity and he'd initially wanted to make her a copy of his former human self, Suzuki Satoru. That would likely have been dangerously unhealthy however and she'd convinced him to do as she suggested. Yorha's gender and appearance were thus chosen by Drau to provide him some disassociation from his human side even as he explored it through them. Though she had been a little mischievous about the whole thing and secretly used the appearance of a sexbot that Father had fancied buying when he was human before YGGDRASIL consumed his life. As forgetful as Father was about things from his human life, he couldn't place the resemblance at all which made the whole thing all the more amusing for Drau.

"You don't like the look?" Drau teased her Father.

"No. It's just… She's my daughter."

"You see my Mothers much the same, yet it does not stop you from taking them to your bed."

If Father's current form could blush, he would be atomic red by now. Thankfully for him, he was in his Overlord guise.

"Enough with you." He said sternly. "Go! I've had enough of your teasing."

Chuckling at getting a raise out of her uptight Father, Drau obeyed and practically skipped across the walkways and into the ship.

"Yorha, let's go!" Drau said happily as she settled into a seat next to the android in the ship's tiny cockpit.

"Affirmative, Drau. Requesting clearance to launch now."

* * *

Ainz watched from a nearby observation lounge as the small shuttle carrying Drau and Yorha pulled away from Zeus and climbed into orbit, leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

_Best of luck, my daughters._ Ainz offered to his departing avatars. _May your adventures be exciting and fruitful._

Just as the shuttle finished exiting the atmosphere and began vectoring towards one of the portal gates that Merwyrm had set up to facilitate more efficient space travel between the worlds of Realmspace, something he could only see through his omniscience, a **Gate** portal opened behind Ainz from which Sebas stepped out.

"What is it, Sebas?"

"This just arrived from the Raven Queen, my lord." The Iron Butler said handing over a folded piece of paper.

Unfolding it, Ainz quickly skimmed through it.

_Dear Lord Ainz Ooal Gown,_

_I would like to thank you for the mercy you showed me despite my egregious actions. In recompense for the affront I offered you and as part of the fulfillment of my Oath to you I have made arrangements for one of my own to assist you in your pursuit of your fondest wish._

_It is my hope that this will prove to show my earnest desire to earn your forgiveness._

_Your friend,_

_The Raven Queen._

"How presumptuous!" Ainz whispered to himself angrily as he crushed the note. "I need no help. Not from the likes of you at least."

Returning his attention to the increasingly distant ship, he watched as it crossed the portal that would take it into orbit over Toril.

_How I wish I could join them._

"My love," Albedo said appearing behind him through her new godly powers. "The daily cabinet meeting is about to begin."

"Very well," Ainz said turning away from the observation window. "Let's not keep everyone waiting then."

_Back to work it seems._ Ainz lamented even as he used a **Gate** spell to create a portal back to Nazarick where his inner circle waited to brief him on the endless amount of work that awaited him. _It never ends._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hope you guys liked the chapter.
> 
> So I managed to add those additional points of view of the Battle of Felmid after all. Hope the framing for them worked. I'm a little iffy on that front. Also hope everyone liked the choice of portfolios I granted the various gods and goddesses of Felmid. I tried to stay true to their various themes or feats they accomplished in the story. Do let me know if you think I made a mistake somewhere.
> 
> This is the end of this book in the series. Next book will be about Ainz's avatars going adventuring. That should be more classically D&D, so if that's what you're into that book should hopefully be a particularly enjoyable read.
> 
> As for the avatars. I don't want to spoil anything here so let's just say that a) there'll be more than just Drau and Yorha and b) each of them will reflect an aspect of Ainz's personality. Some might ask why aren't these avatars just copies of Ainz. Simple. What would be the point of adventuring as a god/primordial? All obstacles would be irrelevant before his divine might. So instead of creating duplicates of himself, he randomized some stuff and created less OP avatars. After all, nothing says avatars need to be exact copies of their gods just that they are physical manifestations of their parent deity. They'll still be pretty damn OP for the opponents they fight, they are manifestations of Ainz Ooal Gown after all and OP is practically his middle name, but not as overly so as if it was just an iteration of him stomping around.
> 
> As for why Ainz would create avatars at all? I think I explained it clear enough in the chapter, but will expand a little more here. Essentially, Ainz has a very strong drive to explore and is only held back by the responsibility of having to rule Nazarick for the sake of its denizens who he sees as his children. In canon, he even mentions that if he'd arrived in the New World alone he'd just go become a nomad explorer and he essentially does so in the alternate timeline of the Light Novels' Bonus Volume The Vampire Princess of the Lost Country. Thus with even more responsibilities in this world than he had in canon, of course Ainz can't go gallivanting across Realmspace as the adventurer he wants to be. However, his new powers allows him to create avatars and that's something he's exploiting to the full to meet this need of his.
> 
> Okay. That's it for this long AN. Till next time, tal'ma'te!


	8. Adventuring with Avatars 1: Forming the party

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 1: Forming the party**

**Beta:**

* * *

"Hang tight Yorha. Reentry is going to be a rough ride." Drau shouted over the din of various alarms as she struggled with the controls of their shuttle as they entered Toril's atmosphere. "Are we still on course?"

"Affirmative Drau." The android said with the calm as befitting a mechanical being. "We are headed directly for the coordinates in the mountains of Fimbrul on the continent of Laerakond that the Bone Father gave us. So long as you hold us steady we should land somewhere within an acceptable distance from them."

"Land?" Drau scoffed self-deprecatingly as they burst past the clouds and came into view of the mountain chain below them. "At the rate we're going, we'll crash."

"I believe there is a saying that 'if you can walk away from a landing, it's a good landing.'"

"Comforting to know," Drau shot back sarcastically as the alarms reached a fever pitch.

"Collision Alert! Collision Alert!" The shuttle's computers screamed in warning.

"This is going to hurt." Drau groaned as their tiny ship smashed into the side of a mountain.

* * *

Drau came to a short while later with a splitting headache and the dim memory of screaming metal, sparking electricity and furious flames.

"What in the Nine Hells happened?" The power armor wearing Fighter said as she forced herself into a sitting position next to a small campfire under a small rocky overhang some distance away from what looked like the wreckage of her shuttle.

"We crashed." Yorha told her blandly as she walked up, now with the oversized nodachi that was her primary weapon strapped to her back where its perpetual aura of unknown energies gave it and its wielder a strange otherworldly look. "You were knocked unconscious. I dragged you out."

"Anything we can salvage from the shuttle?"

"Only our personal gear." Yorha told her gesturing to the long barrelled chrome colored railgun sniper rifle and boxy looking plasma carbine that Drau only just now noticed had been laid out next to her armored body. "The rest is either wrecked or disintegrating already. The Bone Father did say he only gave the ship enough of a blessing to make it to Laerakond."

"I know." Drau sighed in irritation. "Why couldn't Fa- I mean Lord Ainz have blessed it with the same blessing he gave our gear!?"

_Damnit! Yorha definitely caught that slip! Gotta be careful about that._

At her own insistence, Drau was the only one of Father's avatars who knew their true nature. Being the first she hadn't much choice in the matter, but she had convinced Father to not make the rest aware. Better to foster some distance between them and him.

"I do not know," Yorha told her with a frown as she took a seat on a boulder across from Drau around the fire. "And it is alright to call the Bone Father whatever you want. While I do not feel it appropriate to be quite so disrespectful to a god, he was exceptionally kind to you."

"Right. Thanks Yorha."

Drau knew she likely couldn't keep the charade about their true relationship with Father going for long, but she hoped it would last long enough for her siblings and her, to a lesser extent, to develop divergent enough personalities that their Father couldn't fully relate with them whenever he viewed the world through their eyes thus giving him the distance she was sure he needed. She couldn't read Yorha's mind so she couldn't be sure if her robotic sister had figured the truth already or was deliberately ignoring the clues, but whatever the case she was thankful that she was playing along.

Sounds of someone scrambling over the loose rocks of the mountain side pulled Drau from her thoughts and she immediately picked up her plasma carbine. Without being sure how close the enemy were, she'd have to rely on it rather than her trusty sniper rifle. Next to her, Yorha was likewise on alert, having drawn her sword and stepping out of their impromptu shelter to serve as their frontliner. A role that her android durability made her excellent for.

Two figures emerged from the twilight that had fallen on the mountain since their late evening crash and approached them. Scavengers perhaps? Or were they who they had come to this remote region to meet?

"Who goes there?" Yorha demanded having spotted the newcomers as well, her robotic senses equal to Drau's own draconic ones.

"That depends," a commanding voice came from the shorter of the two figures as they both paused.

They were now close enough that Drau could get a clear look at them. The one addressing them was a woman with short blonde hair and beady black eyes slanted upwards, giving the impression that she was constantly glaring at others and dark circles around her eyes. She was wearing a set of elaborate armor decorated to resemble a turtle shell and had an ornate longbow was strapped to her back. On her head she wore a simple iron crown and she had an upturned visor that shielded her eyes.

Her companion was a man in full plate armor that Drau almost mistook for a knight. That is until she saw the magical quarterstaff he was equipped with and the faint aura of magic that surrounded him. Clearly he was some kind of armored Wizard. With his helmet down and his armor covering his whole body, it was impossible to make out any of his physical features beyond his tall, lanky frame.

_I'd hazard a guess and say we hit the jackpot._ Drau thought, having a fair idea who these people where.

Nevertheless, she played along. It would be for the best even if they _were_ who she'd been expecting.

"Depending on what?" Drau responded, training her gun on the mage in the armor. If this devolved into a fight, it would be best to take out the enemy caster first.

"On what you say to this: Glory to the Bone Father!" The woman shouted back with the first half of one of the most favored exaltations to Father back on Felmid.

_Yup! I guessed right._ Drau thought to herself in satisfaction as she shouted back the proper response. "All hail the Supreme One of Nazarick!"

"Ah! Good!" The archer said with an enthusiastic clap. "You two _are_ the ones that our god sent us to meet."

"The Bone Father sent you?" Drau asked curiously, lowering her weapon but keeping it in hand. A move that Yorha imitated by lowering but no sheathing her nodachi. She had to keep up the act after all.

"Indeed," the archer said with a bow. "The name is Neia Baraja. First priest of the Bone Father in all of Toril, at your service."

The moment Drau heard the girl's name, she knew. Yes, this was her sister. Neia was indeed like her, one of their Father's avatars.

"And your companion?" Yorha asked, eyeing the armored figure warily.

Neia nudged the man and with a growl he introduced himself in a gravelly voice. "Gauldoth Half-Dead. Necromancer."

Again Drau was filled with a supernatural knowing at hearing Gauldoth's name that confirmed that he was her brother, a fellow avatar of the Bone Father.

Neia glared at Gauldoth though and the necromancer continued sounding most reluctantly. "Follower of the Supreme One."

"All servants of the Bone Father are welcome with us." Drau said stowing her weapon at the hardpoint on the small of her powered suit's back and Yorha followed suit by sheathing her sword. "It's not much but please join us in our camp. I am Draudillon Oriculus and my companion is named Yorha."

From the lack of similar recognition either offered, Drau was certain Father had kept his promise to not let her other siblings know their true origin. She'd not been around when he created Gauldoth and Neia though she'd been aware of them, and thus wasn't sure he would keep his word. Seeing that he had lifted a great worry from her shoulders.

"Thank you!" Neia said with a grin as she practically skipped over to the fire. "We've been traveling all day to find you and are exhausted."

"Speak for yourself," Gauldoth said as he followed after the archer with a more sedate pace.

"I suppose I am," Neia said, tilting her head in a cute gesture of contemplation. "You are after all partially undead. That means you have infinite stamina."

"Partially undead?" Yorha asked, blinking in a gesture Drau knew was the android rapidly searching her databanks for information. "How is that possible."

In answer, the necromancer lifted the visor of his helm and revealed his disfigured face. His right side looked normal enough with pale skin, black hair and a single onyx colored eye. However, his left was little more than the rotted, undead flesh of a zombie.

"An experiment gone awry." The armored man said. "I was working in a lab a short distance from here when an experiment went wrong and almost killed me. It also inadvertently invoked Lord Ainz who took an interest in me as the first mortal to do so. He offered me a deal, he'd save me and grant me power in exchange for enduring this half-life for my arrogance at invoking him without knowing anything about him."

"Harsh," Drau said. _Father, what kind of messed up backstory is that!?_

Drau might have offered input on her siblings' creation but in the end it was up to her Father to decide what to do with them. As a result, this was the first time she was hearing any of this.

"But fair," Neia chimed in from where she was already putting some water from a waterskin into a cooking pot she'd pulled out from a magical pouch to boil over the fire. "Gauldoth didn't just ask for his life. He _also_ asked for power."

"And I do not regret it." The necromancer admitted as he settled onto a rock just within the circle of light created by their fire.

"Is that so?" Yorha whispered to herself as she settled on a rock next to Neia, keeping a wary eye on the newcomers.

"I can hear you, you know." Gauldoth shot back, surprising Yorha slightly. "And yes, I detest the look the power has given me hence the armor. But it is a small price to pay for what I've gained. Even the ability to wear armor and have it not distract me from spellcasting is part of the gift."

"How convenient." Drau noted.

"The Bone Father is thoughtful like that." Neia said as she handed Drau a cup of tea.

"You have tea leaves?"

"Yup, my village had a small tea plantation." Neia told her as she offered a cup to Yorha who declined with a polite shake of her head. "It's one of our major trade goods. Or was anyways."

"Was? What do you mean?" Drau asked, already dreading the answer.

"Well, my village was sacked by some raiders. They pretty much burnt it to the ground." Neia replied, confirming Drau's fears.

_Trust Father to come up with one macabre backstory after another! What about keeping it light did he forget!?_

"I'm so sorry." Drau told her sister honestly.

"It wasn't quite so bad." Neia said with a shrug. "At least they weren't slavers. The survivors like me got the chance to up and leave instead of being taken as slaves."

"That's not much of a blessing." Yorha noted softly.

"It is in these parts." Gauldoth commented sarcastically.

"What do you mean?"

"You mustn't be from around here, Draudillon." The necromancer sneered. "This place is crawling with slavers. Drow, Neogi, Mind Flayers? You name it, we have it. Even some humans and other races are in on the act, taking slaves though they mainly do it to trade them with the Underdark races."

"Call me Drau, it's shorter and easier to remember. As for your question, no, I'm not from around here. Not recently." Drau said, spinning her backstory. "I was once though. A long time ago."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Neia asked, looking adorably confused as she paused midway through filling the cooking pot of boiling water with various ingredients she pulled from her magical pouch.

"I might not look it," Drau said with a chuckle as she mischievously gestured at her curvaceous human figure, silver blonde hair and violet eyes. "But I was once a Dragonborn of these mountains."

"What happened?" Gauldoth asked, sounding genuinely interested for the first time the whole conversation.

"When I was a youngling, I fell through a magical portal and ended up on Felmid. Inside the Bone Father's Great Tomb to be exact. He raised me." Drau said giving him the backstory she and Father had concocted.

"You've been to Nazarick!?" Neia gushed. "Oh, I wished I was so lucky."

"It is very impressive." Yorha agreed.

"You've been there too?"

"I am _from_ Felmid." Yorha told the priest. "I am an android, a type of advanced golem, that Drau found in the ruins that dot the planet whilst adventuring as a child."

"Wow!" Neia said in awe.

"Enough distractions." Gauldoth cut in, sounding irritated. "Tell me how a Dragonborn comes to look like a human."

"It's the way Felmidian power works. It operates on what they call the YGGDRASIL system." Drau explained. "Some races, that they call heteromorphs, have the ability to evolve and change their nature. Dragonborns, under this system at least, counts as one of those. It let me change my form."

"So you're not a Dragonborn anymore? What are you then?"

"That, my curious necromancer friend, is a secret for another day." Drau teased her brother earning herself a huff of annoyance.

"Cheer up, Gaul." Neia told him, ignoring his glare that spoke volumes about how much he liked the abbreviated nickname. "Thanks to our Lord's blessing we use the YGGDRASIL system now too."

"That was not what I was asking." He told her bluntly.

"Maybe not," Neia said as she began passing around bowls of the simple stew she'd cooked. "But you were asking because you were hoping it means you can change your race somehow. So knowing it does means you can."

Drau blinked. That was why he was asking? She hadn't realized.

Ignoring Neia's observation, Gauldoth simply took the bowl she offered him and simmered angrily presumably at having his desire called out as he ate. Drau was tempted to comfort him somehow but refrained. Considering how prickly he was, she didn't want to risk setting him off.

_Maybe later. After I get to know him better._

"So, um, why were you two looking for us?" Drau asked Neia instead. "At least that's what I presume you two were doing."

"We were." Neia confirmed with a nod, gesturing to Drau to eat as they talked. "You see, after my village was razed I was all on my own. I was separated from my family. Don't know if they're dead or alive. Not much of a loss either way to be honest."

Drau winced at that. "You didn't get along?"

"No." Neia said with a shrug. "My dad died young and my mother remarried. I didn't get along with her new husband. So much so he wanted to sell me off to slavers a couple times, especially after my mother died. But I was too good of an archer for him to even consider it. Too vital to the village's defenses. Not that it helped it in the end."

"I'm sorry for that."

"Don't be. It's water under the bridge." Neia said with a shrug. "Anyways, after the village fell I wandered around aimlessly for a bit. Then I had a revelation. I think that's what it's called. Basically, the Bone Father gave me a vision one night and claimed me as his Paladin. His first priest on Toril. And tasked me with his sacred will."

"And that was to find us?" Yorha asked.

"Part of it," Neia nodded. "I had to round up Gaul first too. And digging him out of the rubble of his lab was a pain I tell you."

Said necromancer growled something barely intelligible under his breath that might have been a thanks or a curse. Either way, the women ignored the surly man.

"And then you came looking for us?"

"Yes. Lord Ainz said you'd come in a ship around this spot." Neia told her with a shake of her head. "I thought he meant a spelljammer so that's what I was looking out for. Didn't expect you two to crash in a comet."

"We had a craft similar to a spelljammer." Yorha told her. "Unfortunately, it did not survive our landing."

"That's the wreck we saw I guess?"

Drau nodded with a frown still a little annoyed she hadn't been able to salvage anything from the shuttle. Setting that anger aside however, she asked Neia the question of the hour.

"So what does Father want us to do?"

"You call him Father?" Neia asked, her eyes wide in shock.

"The Bone Father and Drau are very close." Yorha told the Paladin. "Besides, many on Felmid who feel a close connection to the Supreme One call him the Father or simply Father as well. It is not strange."

Neia nodded in understanding.

"Uh, Neia, not to rush you, but did Father tell you what you wanted us to do when he sent us your revelation."

"Not really," Neia admitted apologetically. "Just that he wanted us to party together and go adventuring. Where and what we do is up to us, I think. At least, he didn't tell or show me what we should do. Beyond following his tenets while doing whatever we do that is."

Drau sighed in frustration. Trust her aimless Father to not set clear goals.

"If that's the case, anyone has any suggestions?"

Yorha hesitantly raised a hand.

"Yes, Yorha?" Drau encouraged.

"Doesn't the Bone Father detest slavery?"

"Yes, he does." Neia, his cleric, confirmed with a firm nod.

"Then why don't we go fight the slavers that seem to plague this region?"

"I like where you're going with this," Neia said with an enthusiastic grin. "You have my vote."

Yorha blushed, her nanite skin imitating the human gesture perfectly. "Drau?"

"Let's hear Gaul's vote first."

Gauldoth growled at the nickname as he replied, "Most of the slavers operate from the local Underdark. If we're targeting them, we'll need to equip ourselves for an expedition down there."

"Is that a yes or no?"

"It's a yes," Neia said, rolling her eyes. "If he's already thinking about the kinda gear we'll need then he's onboard."

"You could have just said yes."

Gauldoth just shrugged.

"Well if everyone is agreed than I guess that's what we'll do."

"Excellent." Neia said, clapping her hands cheerfully. "Soon the Underdark will know the righteous wrath of Ainz Ooal Gown!"

* * *

A week after the arrival of Ainz Ooal Gown's avatars on Toril, in one of the innumerable passages of the Underdark under the Fimbrul mountains a vicious struggle was being fought. On one side was a lithe and fit dark skinned Shadar-kai, one of the elfin humanoids tied to the Shadowfell and the Raven Queen. She had raven black, tamed in a loose, messy ponytail with two longish bangs left out to frame her face and was dressed in light leather armor. Fighting alongside her was an abnormally tall Dwarf with plain black shoulder length hair, a waist length beard that was tied into intricate braids, dressed in a set full plate armor and wielding a massive mithril warhammer. Their opponents were a trio of Drow, the evil dark-skinned sub-race of elves. Two of them were simple Fighters and those the Shadar-kai and Dwarf fended off easily enough, but the last was a Warlock and in command of a massive, misshapen spider demon known as a Bebilith.

"Master Falgrim!" The Shadar-kai shouted as she launched a **Lightning Bolt** spell at the demon. Using its arachnid agility the creature easily evaded her spell by scuttling up the wall of the passage and advanced ever closer. "Watch out!"

"I see him!" The Dwarf shouted back as he kicked one of the sword wielding Drow Fighters that he'd been struggling with only to turn in time to slam his massive warhammer into the chest of the other dagger wielding attacker that had been trying to sneak up on him. The blow easily shattered the chest of the Drow, killing him.

"Not him! Above! The demon!"

"Wha-" Falgrim shouted in shock as he looked up only to see the spider like monster leap down from the cavern roof at him. It was mid leap when suddenly the thing exploded with a thundering boom.

"Thanks for the save Taana." The Dwarf said, as he spun around to finish off the last remaining Drow fighter.

The Shadar-kai however could only blink in shock. That _hadn't_ been her. She was still barely halfway through forming her magic for another **Lightning Bolt** when the demon had been sent screaming back to the Abyss. And even if her spell _had_ hit it, she doubted she'd have managed to kill it in just one hit!

"Time for the Warlock." Master Falgrim said as he smashed the head of his current opponent in. "Do you see her anywhere Taana?"

"You don't need to worry about her." An unfamiliar voice said in a commanding voice as the aforementioned arcane spellcaster's severed head was tossed in the duo's direction and landing right at the Dwarf's feet. "We took care of her. The coward tried to run once she saw her pet died. Yorha took care of that though."

"Most appreciated." Master Falgrim said warily as he moved in front of Taana, who readied a **Lightning Bolt**. Just because whoever these people were had helped them with the Drow didn't mean they were friendly. The Underdark was a dog eat dog place and these people were just as likely to want to kill them as help them.

"You can put away the weapons, we mean you no harm." A figure dressed in a black humanoid mechanical suit, with large shoulders, wide hips and a pair of lights affixed near the armpits of the machine said. With a long barrelled chrome colored gun strapped across her back, she struck an intimidating figure and Taana couldn't help but tense further.

Especially so when the rest of her party also stepped into view. The archer with her green armor and the armored mage were normal enough, even if the latter being able to wear armor spoke of an uncommon proficiency for such that set her on edge. No, it was the curvaceous woman with silver blonde hair and gray blue eyes that rounded out the other party that had her gripping her dagger, Joltfang, warily.

It could be the fact that despite being in the treacherous Underdark the woman was dressed in an black dress with a short skirt, long sleeves that flared out at the wrist, long black opera gloves, thigh high leggings and knee length high heeled leather boots. Being able to wear what amounted to fancy dress whilst adventuring spoke of uncanny power and skill. However, what _really_ made her scary was the long thin sword she had strapped to her back and the otherworldly energies it radiated.

"Sorry to say but we can't exactly just take your word for it." Master Falgrim told the newcomers, his hands gripping onto the haft of Doomhammer, his trusty warhammer, nervously.

"If we wanted you two dead, you would already be corpses." The armored figure said in a gravelly voice.

"Gaul, that's not helping." The leader in the mechanical suit said with a sigh as she opened her helmet. The sides of the roundish piece of armor folding away into the rest of the armor to reveal a woman with aristocratic features, silver blonde hair and violet eyes. "Though seeing my face must help some, right?"

"A little." Master Falgrim admitted as he relaxed the tight grip on his weapon.

Taana made an uncomprehending sound and the Dwarf sighed. "It means if things get nasty we have a shot at taking her out before she can close up that fancy helmet of hers."

"Exactly." The violet eyed woman said with a nod. "That Shadar-kai there is your apprentice I take it, Master Dwarf?"

"Yes, she is." Master Falgrim agreed. "Now what do you lot want?"

"Drau," the woman with the otherworldly sword said. "Maybe we can set up camp before we discuss things? Everyone will be more comfortable then."

"Good idea, Yorha." The leader nodded. "Any objections Mast-"

"The name's Flagrim Doomhammer. Hearing you going Master Dwarf this and Master Dwarf that is getting on my nerves. So just call me by my name."

"Very well then." The Drau woman said with a gracious nod. "Is joining us at camp for a rest good okay with you, Falgrim?"

"Sure."

"Then do you happen to know any good camping spots nearby?"

Both Taana and Master Falgrim blinked in confusion at that. How could a party of clearly skilled adventurers not know their way around the local Underdark!? Surely, they'd have at least got their hands on a map from a merchant before descending!

As expected of the veteran, the Dwarf shook off his surprise first. "Yeah, I know a place. Follow me."

* * *

"So you want a guide to the local Underdark?"

"That or a map if you can spare it." Drau told Falgrim a couple hours later as the group of six adventurers sat at camp near a small spring fed pool in the Underdark's many caverns. "Someone didn't think we'd need it."

"Who's the idiot?"

"I am not an idiot." The armored mage that the Dwarf had learned was called Gauldoth growled from where he was reading some tome by the flickering campfire. "It was merely an oversight on my part."

"One none of my party caught unfortunately," Drau admitted with an apologetic pat to the man's armored shoulder. "So it's all our fault really."

Seeming mollified, the lanky man went back to his reading.

"So back to what we were discussing, what can you offer us?"

"I dunno yet. I need to know something first."

"What is it?"

"Why are you lot down here in the first place?"

"To kill the local slavers."

"That's a tall order. There are whole cities of them down here."

"We know. We'll kill them all." Drau told him looking at him with a seriousness and confidence that Falgrim found unnerving. If it was anyone else the Dwarf would have scoffed but there was something about this human, her whole party really, that made him think differently. He couldn't quite place why. Maybe it was the sheer power and strength they radiated. Maybe it was their absolute confidence in their ability to succeed. Or it was some supernatural intervention stirring his intuition. Whatever it was, his gut was telling him that if it was these folks then they could really do it.

_And if they do it then I want to be part of that action._ Falgrim thought as long buried memories of a ransacked village and the dead faces of enslaved family he'd been forced to kill to end their misery flashed across his mind.

"Well, if that's the case then I think Taana and I better stick around and play guide." Falgrim said, trusting his gut. "We only have one map of the area anyways and we can't exactly sell it to you or we'd end up lost down here."

It was a lame excuse and he doubted the human bought it but she didn't question it either.

"Then welcome onboard." Drau said offering him her hand.

Clasping her arm by the forearm instead, he gave it a firm shake. "Glad to be onboard."

* * *

"Looks like you'll staying with us after all," Neia said to the Shadar-kai Wizard who had given her name as Taana Baryn Zyfyn as she gestured towards Drau clasping hands with the girl's Dwarven master.

"Looks like. I'm glad." the fey woman said as she finished collecting the arrows from the oversized mushrooms that they'd been using as targets for archery practice. Much to Neia's chagrin, the low light conditions of the Underdark was throwing off her aim and she needed the practice to 'recalibrate'.

"Oh, why?" The priest asked absently as she went over the practice and calculated what changes she needed to make to her shooting.

"Well, not to be ungrateful to Master Falgrim but traveling with just him for company can get very, um, I dunno how to describe it."

"Lonely?" The Paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown suggested.

"I guess?" The younger woman said with a shrug as she returned Neia's share of the arrows.

Deciding to give the elfin girl a break, Neia changed the topic. "So what were you and Falgrim doing down here anyways?"

"We weren't as ambitious as you lot are." Taana said shaking her head incredulously as she undoubtedly recalled their goal here in the Underdark. "We were just mapping out the local area more, to allow people to be more prepared to deal with the threats it contains."

"What brought this on?" Neia asked curiously. "I mean the Underdark is an especially dangerous place around these parts. Surely there are safer places to go adventuring."

"There are _no_ safe places to go adventuring." Taana said as if by rote. "Master Falgrim taught me that."

Neia nodded in agreement. "Maybe but still why the Underdark?"

"Well, that's a long story actually." Taana said as she gestured back towards the campfire and Neia nodded, and they headed back together. "In fact, it's how I met Master Falgrim too."

"Oh!? Pray tell!" Neia urged, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"Well, I had just run away from home-"

"You ran away from home!?" Neia gasped.

"Yeah. Another long story for another time." Taana pressed ahead. "So anyways I ran away and made it to a neighboring village where I visited a few times, only to find its been raided by Drow slavers about a week before I got there and Master Falgrim investigating things."

_The Bone Father must have brought them together._

"You telling her that old story?" The aforementioned Dwarf said as they reached the campfire and took seats around its warmth.

"Yes, I am Master. You want to add anything?"

"I'll chip in here and there." The Dwarf said with a roll of his eyes.

"So anyways the moment I showed up the villagers started blaming me saying how I brought my race's bad luck on them."

Neia winced. She could totally see that happening. Shadar-kai were notorious for bringing negative consequences for others around them if interacted with over a substantial time. It was no surprise that with something as traumatic as a Drow raid, the villagers would blame the easy scapegoat of a Shadar-kai runaway.

"Yeah, and then this crazy girl decided to prove she was innocent by hunting down the slavers and rescuing the taken villagers. I couldn't exactly watch her go on a suicide mission like that alone so I tagged along."

"And he saved my life. The raiders had a Drider _and_ an Umber Hulk with them."

"How in the Nine Hells did you survive that?" Drau asked, shocked. Even Gaul who had been studiously ignoring the conversation till now turned around in interest.

"Well, it went something like this-"

* * *

"Time for my shift." Gauldoth said hours after they set up camp as he relieved Yorha from sentry duty.

"Thank you," the android said politely and received only a grunt in reply.

Ignoring the necromancer's lack of manners, Yorha walked away from the lone entrance to the small cavern where they'd set up camp and towards the campfire around which her party were sleeping in their bedrolls. Well, most of them were anyways.

"Do you even _need_ so many power cells?" Yorha asked Drau as she sat down next to the other woman as she busily used her powered suit's omnitool's limited manufacturing capabilities to convert some of the gathered magical material they'd bought before they'd descended into the Underdark and gathered along their way into power cells.

"You can never have too many." Drau said with a shrug. "Besides your sword needs them too."

Yorha's Murasame-class variable output nodachi did indeed require power cells to operate but she still had dozens of them. With that much on hand, she wouldn't need more for some time.

"Are you expecting we might not have the chance to produce more in the foreseeable future?"

"I dunno," Drau returned. "If we go raiding the slavers' towns like we plan then finding the magical material won't be a problem. But-"

"Finding a safe spot and time to convert them into power cells might." Yorha agreed. "Carry on then."

"I will." Drau said with a cheeky grin.

Yorha was tempted to roll her eyes but refrained.

"I'm going to sleep." She said instead. "Don't stay up too late."

"You don't need to sleep."

"That does not mean I cannot. Its soothing." Yorha told her stubbornly as she pulled her bedroll from the small magical pack that they'd purchased before descending down into the Underdark. It and the rest of their new gear had cost them almost all the gold that they'd left Felmid with but she trusted Gauldoth's estimation that they would be necessary.

"I suppose it is." Drau allowed. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Drau." Yorha said as she finished laying out her bedroll and got comfortable.

* * *

When the rest of the party finally went to sleep, Gauldoth waited at the entrance to the cave where he was supposed to stand guard.

"Out of raw materials for your device?" He asked Drau as the woman joined him.

"Yes," she nodded. "That and Yorha is finally asleep. Falgrim too. The sneaky bastard was feigning sleep until just before Yorha's shift ended."

"I don't know why you bother with all this secrecy. It's not like we're doing anything wrong."

"If it was just the four of us, I wouldn't mind. Maybe." Drau said hesitantly. "I don't want to alarm our new friends quite yet."

"By letting them know I'm a necromancer?"

"By letting them _see_ you're a necromancer." Drau corrected. "Now where are your thralls?"

Gauldoth rolled his eyes at his leader's foolishness and reached out with his mind to the two Death Knights he'd created from the two dead Drow Fighters Falgrim had killed in the skirmish earlier in the day and the lone Dullahan he'd created from the Warlock Yorha had decapitated. It took a few moments but the three undead rushed over from where they'd been shadowing the party and into view.

"Good work." Drau said, looking over his three minions approvingly. "Think they'll be strong enough to take out the nearest town?"

"The Neogi settlement?" He asked, causing Drau to look to him with surprise.

"Yes, I was eavesdropping as you went over the Dwarf's map."

"Why did I expect any less?" The woman said with an amused chuckle. "So can they?"

"Probably not. But they can do a lot of damage."

"Then send them to do it. It'll soften the place up for us to finish off tomorrow."

"I like the way you think, Drau." The necromancer said with an uncharacteristic grin even as he gave his minions their orders and they slinked off into the darkness of the Underdark to carry out his will.

"Well then, that's it for me tonight. Goodnight, Gaul."

"Don't call me that!" Gaul hissed without much heat and earning himself little more than a chuckle from his leader as she sauntered off to get some sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> The fight in this chapter was very short. Apologies about that but it was really just a framing device to get the two halves of the party together so I didn't want to bloat it up. Speaking of bloat, it is this concern which is why I omitted 'showing' the backstories of the various characters. Especially Taana and Falgrim's fight with the Drider and Umber Hulk. That and the latter really does better as something left to the imagination anyways. As for the backstories of the Avatars, I excluded them because they aren't real. I don't really want to confuse people by showing the false memories.
> 
> Speaking of imagination, I'm guessing some of you might be wondering what are the sources of inspiration for the avatars of Ainz Ooal Gown. If so and you don't recognize them, then google their names. Whilst they aren't exactly expys of those characters, they did hugely inspire my OCs.
> 
> Speaking of OCs, Taana and Falgrim are full on OCs. Both of which were developed in collaboration with AllForFire, an early beta to this project who I fell out of contact with over time. Hope they are acceptable. If you like them, I'm taking all the credit. If you don't, then it's all AllForFire's fault that they suck. XP
> 
> That's it for this chapter I think. Till next time, annyeong!


	9. Adventuring with Avatars 2: Naughty, naughty Neogi

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 2: Naughty, naughty Neogi**

**Beta:**

* * *

"Alright, everyone." Drau said as the party finished packing up their camp. "Anyone up for some resupply? I know Falgrim and Taana are running low on provisions."

"Aye." Falgrim agreed, looking relieved. While the food situation between him and his apprentice wasn't exactly dire, especially with the supplies that their new party members had brought with them, he would much appreciate a top up. "So we're heading up to the surface?"

"Nope," Drau said smiling mischievously in a way that set the Dwarf on edge. "We'll head to the nearest settlement."

"But the nearest settlement belongs to the Neogi," Taana pointed out nervously.

"Oh, I know Taana." Drau 'reassured' the girl. "I studied your Master's map very thoroughly last night."

"What do you intend to do when we get there?" Falgrim asked warily as he begun to second guess his decision to throw his lot in with these people.

"Simple," Neia answered for their leader. "We sack the town in the name of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown!"

The Paladin's eyes were glowing with religious fervour. Literally. They were emitting a red glow that made it very clear that she was her god's conduit.

"Wha-!? Why!?" Taana shouted in dismay, expressing the fearful skepticism that they both shared.

"Our god abhors slavery." Neia explained in a tone as if it should've been obvious. "And tasks us to destroy it in all its forms."

"That's noble and all," Flagrim spoke up, silencing Taana's more frantic protest. "But this is a whole Neogi town we're talking about. It'll have an army of slaves defending it. There's only six of us."

"That's two more than is necessary." Gauldoth boasted.

Neia shot him a look to be quiet before turning back to Falgrim and Taana.

"Do not be worried friends. Lord Ainz will protect us. We are carrying out his will. He is angry with the Underdark's various slavers for their presumption to attempt to enslave his subjects."

The Paladin had a supernaturally charismatic voice that seemed to dig its way into Falgrim's psyche. It felt almost like the psychic attacks of a Neogi or Mind Flayer but different, more subtle. It didn't even trigger the amulet he'd bought that would ward off such mental intrusions. It also did not force his adherence to her words, all it seemed to do was force him to listen.

It was this fact that allowed him to reply with a skeptical question. "What do you mean by 'his subjects'? Until I met you guys I'd never even heard of your god."

Taana nodded slowly in agreement beside him. By her seemingly slowed reaction, Falgrim was pretty sure whatever effect the Paladin's words were having were a lot more effective on her than it was on him.

_If we do stick with these guys and that's a big if at the moment, I've got to watch out for that._

"It's just us at the moment. He's new to Realmspace." Neia admitted with a sheepish shrug. "But our god has issued his command and we obey."

_Rather presumptuous of this new god to issue such a command_ , Falgrim mused. _To just up and arrive and declare the standing threat of potential capture and enslavement that having the slaving dark dwellers around poses against his handful of subjects as justification to go on a genocidal campaign against them. I wonder what the other gods think of it._

Yet Falgrim Doomhammer kept such thoughts to himself. He had learned enough in his life to know that even the newest, weakest or most obscure of gods were beings not to be trifled with lightly, preferably not at all, and he was in no haste to call down further wrath upon their heads.

And besides, if this Ainz Ooal Gown had an ax to grind with these damned dark-dwellers, then hock up his hammer, that sounded like his kind of god.

"Alright, we'll try this out this one time." Falgrim allowed. "But we do this cautiously."

"Of course," Drau agreed. "We'll try a sneaky approach first. And re-evaluate from there."

"Drau, you should have led with that." Yorha said with a soft sigh.

Falgrim had to agree. That sounded so much more reasonable.

"And miss out on our friends' flabbergasted expressions?"

"Uh, Master, did Drau just scare us just to get a rise for her own amusement?" Taana asked hesitantly.

Shaking his head in amusement, Falgrim replied. "It would appear so."

Taana pouted and the Dwarf's amusement just increased.

"Alright, enough fun for now. Everyone ready?"

A chorus of affirmatives met their leader's question and so with a decisive nod she turned.

"Let's go then." The armored woman said as she laid them out of the cave that had been their campsite for the night and to the foreboding Underdark beyond.

* * *

A couple hours later and the party was still marching in formation down the Underdark's twisting labyrinth of passages towards the Neogi settlement. Yorha as their primary frontliner took point followed by Drau in her heavy Felmidian mechanical armor and her divinely blessed weapons. Next came Neia and Taana at the center of their formation where the two archers could easily shift to support whichever side needed the most help in the event of an attack. Behind them came Gauldoth whose armor gave him the ability to double as a second string frontliner if need be despite being a mage. Last but not least, Falgrim as their secondary frontliner brought up their rear.

"Drau," Gauldoth hissed suddenly, drawing Neia away from the speech she'd been crafting in her head for when she'd proselytize to the liberated Neogi slaves.

"Yeah, I see them on my sensors too. Looks like there's no avoiding them." Their leader said with an annoyed sigh. "I was hoping to put this off until we got to a more defensible location."

"What's going on?" Neia asked, blinking in confusion.

"We've been shadowed by Neogi parties for the past hour at least. How could you not know that? Drau told us about them when she first spotted them." Taana told her, sounding incredulous.

"I, uh, got distracted?" Neia said, blushing in embarrassment.

"Yeah, well, pull your head out of the clouds Paladin." Gauldoth said, his eyes glowing with the power of a spell she recognized as **Detect Life**. He used it more than once in the past to help her catch their dinner. "The Neogi are almost on top of us."

"This is a bad place to fight." Falgrim said even as the party closed ranks. "Too many entrances."

Neia frowned as she surveyed the tunnel they'd found themselves in. The Dwarf was right. There were at least six different branching passages within sight alone.

"Gaul, you know **Wall of Protection from Arrows** and **Anti-Magic Cocoon**?"

The necromancer's only reply was to cast the aforementioned spells, just in time for the former to deflect a strange crystalline looking crossbow bolt shot by a Neogi in elaborate clothes adorned with many jewels. It rode atop a massive Umber Hulk at the rear of a throng of Human slaves dressed in badly maintained armor and armed with equally poor quality melee weapons of various types that swarmed out of a nearby passageway.

Neia raised Ultimate Shooting Star Super, the longbow gifted to her by Lord Ainz himself and prepared to take the vile aberration out but was beaten to the punch by Drau whose railgun reduced not just the Neogi but the head of its Umber Hulk to clouds of blood and viscera with a single shot. This left the slaves disorientated for a second but they quickly recovered and surged towards them once more.

"I'll take out the Neogi." Drau shouted as she took another shot, taking out another Neogi, its Umber Hulk and a fair few of the slaves it was using as a living wall. Unlike the first Neogi, this one had the sense to have its mount lower itself closer to the ground to make it less of a target and allow its Human slaves to serve as a living wall. Sadly against the sheer penetrative power of Drau's railgun, this was no defense at all.

"Taana, support with your magic." Their leader ordered just as some spell or the other splashed harmlessly against the anti-magic dome keeping them safe. "Neia use your Evangelist skills. See if you can disrupt the bastards' psychic control somehow."

"Got it!" Taana shouted back, a necessity over the cries of agony filling the cavern from the poor group of slaves caught in the area that Gaul had swept with his **Ray of Negative Energy**. The spell had killed dozens of the Humans outright and made many more violently ill.

" **Ball Lightning!** " Taana incanted, conjuring several balls of lightning that she sent flying through the mobs of Humans now swarming in from all directions shocking them in the dozens.

Neia was transfixed by the carnage. All around her, their enemies were dying in droves. Drau had killed at least eighteen Neogi with her sniping. Gaul and Taana's magic had slain at least a hundred enemies by now. And that number was set to grow as the necromancer uttered **Undeath Army** and raised all those slain as Skeleton Warriors that he threw at their former comrades. And that said nothing of the ring of corpses Yorha and Falgrim had made around their position with their sword and hammer respectively.

It was a glorious sight! All this justice delivered in the name of Lord Ainz! It was inspiring!

"Lass, I dunno what Drau asked you to do but start doing it already!" Falgrim shouted as he smashed in the head of a particularly burly looking Human who had somehow made it through the ranks of Gaul's skeletal army. "You're not pulling your weight here."

"Right! Sorry!" Neia squeaked in embarrassment. "I'll get right on it."

Taking a deep breath, the Evangelist of Ainz Ooal Gown did just that.

"Slaves of the Neogi," she spoke with the full weight of her faith in her god, causing her voice to echo supernaturally throughout the whole cavern. "Rejoice! For your liberation is at hand! Soon you shall be free from your vile oppressors! By the will of Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, the Bone Father, the Supreme One, be free of your chains! In life or death!"

The impact of her short speech was immediate. Where before the Human slaves attacked with mad ferocity forced upon them by the psychic power of their Neogi masters, now that power was disrupted as Neia's supernatural charisma stirred in their enthralled minds thoughts of defiance and resistance that they had thought long since suppressed. It wasn't enough to fully break the control of the aberrations, but it was enough to confuse their slaves. Some paralyzingly so. Thus they made easy targets as the party finished butchering them.

The Neogi tried to rally their slaves by pumping out enough psychic energy that the hair on the entire party's skin stood on end. Taana even stumbled, losing focus on her spell and causing it to fade away but was stopped from coming under the aberrations' thrall by a quick **Greater Disturb** cast on her by Gaul that boosted her magical resistance which psychic power counted as under the YGGDRASIL system they used. Unfortunately for the abominable crosses between wolf spiders and eels, this distracted them from their attempts to avoid getting sniped and Drau began picking them off even more quickly.

"Resist!" Neia shouted at the slaves, continuing her efforts to disrupt the Neogi's efforts even as she raised her bow and took to helping Drau finish off the aberrations. "Do not let these tyrants take hold of your will. Resist and welcome the embrace of death!"

"I don't believe it," Neia heard Falgrim whisper under his breath as she kept talking, kept using her inspirational powers to disrupt the Neogi's control and helping Drau snipe the foul creatures. "We're actually doing it. We're actually wiping out an entire Neogi slave army."

"That we are," Yorha said, moments before she blurred through the ranks of Gaul's skeletons to assist them against a particularly resilient Umber Hulk. The monstrous mix of a gorilla and a beetle had been using its prodigious strength and its massive mandibles to great effect by smashing dozens of the skeletal warriors. Unfortunately for the beast, these helped it nought at all as the mechanical swordswoman shot past in a blur of speed and bisected it the waist with her blade.

"Everyone cease fire!" Drau ordered once she finished off the last Neogi, much to Neia's annoyance.

_I wanted the last one._

"But there's still the Humans and a couple Umber Hulks about." Taana said from where she was leaning against Gaul's side recovering from almost coming under the Neogi's control.

"Only Humans left actually." Neia observed as Yorha finished off the two remaining insectoid monsters. One moment she'd been some distance away from them with her sword held loosely at the side watching contemptuously as the two beasts charged at her and the next, she was behind both creatures with her sword raised high. As she slowly walked away, cutting down a few confused Humans that tried to attack her, the two Umber Hulks' neatly bisected bodies fell to the ground.

"Leave them to Gaul's skeletons." Drau told her shooting their resident swordswoman a thumbs up. "Gaul, use another **Undeath Army** if need be. But take care of the Human survivors that don't resist. Capture where possible. We'll consolidate our prisoners here with whoever we liberate in the town and use a **Gate** to send all of them to Felmid once we're done."

"Very well," the necromancer said unhappily. " **Undeath Army**!"

The now bolstered army of Skeletons started rounding up the now much more docile humans, many of whom were weeping uncontrollably or just staring blankly into space now that their masters were dead and they were free from the Neogi's psychic domination. Most importantly, except for a very small minority they had now stopped attacking the party. Taking advantage of this apparent end to hostilities, Drau turned to look the party over.

"Anyone need a healing?" Their leader asked.

"I've got a few scrapes here and there but I'll live. No need to waste a precious spell on." Falgrim said with a shrug.

"Neia, take care of that."

"Yes, Drau." Neia said as she turned to the Dwarf. " **Middle Cure Wounds.** "

"What!? Why waste a spell like that!" Falgrim protested even as his wounds healed.

"We operate on a different system." Neia told him with a shrug. "We don't only have a fixed number of spell slots. Instead, we mostly draw power for our magic from a fixed pool of magic power that recharges over time. There are exceptions but so long as we have magic power left we can keep casting. And this is the first spell I've cast today and it barely touched my pool at all."

Falgrim looked flabbergasted at the revelation.

"How-"

"Our Lord provides." Neia told him with a grin.

The Dwarf just looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Well, I really hope you aren't bullshitting me."

"We aren't." Gaul said, sounding annoyed by Falgrim's persisting skepticism. Which while understandable was unfair. The YGGDRASIL system was very _strange_ by the local standards after all. It would take some time for their friends to get used to it. Neia knew it took her awhile to do the same when she first acquired her new powers.

"That system sounds so bloody convenient." Taana whined. "I can only cast a maximum of sixteen spells and five cantrips, but I usually use them all on **Lightning Bolt** s, between long rests and I have to mentally prepare for what I want to cast beforehand. And I'm already lucky since I can cheat and not care about most things so long as it's Lightning magic because of my Tome of Lightning Magic."

"As much as I'd like to say we have the time for you to replace the preparations you used up we don't." Drau said sounding apologetic. "If the Neogi attacked us like this-"

"Then it's almost certain they knew we were coming." Falgrim said with a frown. "I wonder why."

"I, um, might have had Gaul send an advance party towards the town last night to weaken its defenses."

_They did? I guess that was smart, but-_

"And you didn't tell us?" The Dwarf groaned, voicing Neia's unfinished thoughts.

"I didn't want to scare you guys with the fact Gaul was a necromancer."

Falgrim rolled his eyes. "Like that matters. We're on the same side here and that's all I care about. Taana too."

"Yup," the Shadar-kai chimed in enthusiastically.

"So next time," the Dwarf continued. "Tell us when you do stuff. Don't keep us in the dark."

"I would like that consideration as well," Yorha added.

"Me too," Neia said as well.

"Okay, okay." Drau said raising her hands in surrender. "I get it. I screwed up. I'll do better next time alright? We good?"

The rest of the party exchanged looks before they all nodded.

"Since that's settled. Let's go finish off the Neogi shall we?" Drau suggested. "Before they can regroup?"

Lifting his warhammer over his shoulder, Falgrim grinned. "What are we waiting for?"

"Let's go kill us some slavers!" Neia cheered excitedly.

Shaking her head in amusement, Drau led the way as they set off. The party quickly falling into formation as they advanced once more, leaving Gaul's skeletal minions to police the defeated Neogi slave army.

* * *

"Why does a _Neogi_ town look so Human?" Drau asked in a whisper, as the party hid behind a small rise of earth and each of them under the **Greater Unknowable** spell of Gaul's that rendered them invisible to the naked eye and largely erased their traces and sounds. Casting the high level spell had drained the necromancer a great deal but a few mana potions from Felmid had quickly fixed that problem.

Drau's observation was very accurate too. Despite supposedly being a Neogi settlement, the town before them looked pretty much identical to a walled Human town you'd find anywhere along the slopes of the Fimbrul mountains above them. There seemed almost no touch of the aberrations' architecture anywhere. At least as far as Yorha's observations and her comparisons to the data on the settlements in Fimbrul stored in her database could tell.

"That's because the Neogi had their Human slaves bring their whole town down here brick by brick after they took it over." Falgrim told them with a grim look on his face. "They found it amusing and liked the symbolism in rubbing it into the face of their new slaves how completely dominated they now were. Not only their bodies and lives, but even their town was now the Neogi's."

"Sick bastards," Neia cursed and Yorha couldn't help but agree.

"Thankfully, we're about to change that." The android said as she surveyed the town more closely.

The town's main gate, a set of sturdy oak doors, had been knocked to the ground, clearly the work of Drau and Gual's advance party. It was currently being being put back into place by a work crew of Human slaves. Guarding them and the entrance into the settlement were a group of Neogi, Umber Hulks and Human slave soldiers. They would be a problem but not an insurmountable one. The real problem was the sheer size of the town.

"This place is a little too big for us to storm on our own." Yorha pointed out. "Anyone has any suggestions?"

"I have a plan actually." Gaul said, sounding eager. "Let me try something."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Just thinking that those idiots over there look like perfect fodder for some reinforcements."

"So we kill them and you raise them as undead?" Falgrim asked curiously. "That might work."

"Not quite." Gaul countered. "I'm thinking I'd take them out on my own."

"Gaul, that's-"

"Trust me, Drau."

Their leader thought on the matter for a moment before sighing and nodded in agreement. "Go for it but if you get in trouble, we're rushing in."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." The necromancer said dismissively.

With that the necromancer used a **Greater Teleportation** to transport himself directly into the heart of the Neogi forces standing outside the ruined gate to their town. The aberrations were startled but much to Yorha's annoyance rallied quickly and began casting spells at Gaul.

_I hope you know what you're doing._ Yorha thought as she gripped the hilt of her sword worriedly.

* * *

_**Greater Teleportation**_ _,_ Gauldoth incanted silently and transporting himself into the middle of the throng of Neogi forces outside their shattered town gate.

His arrival surprised them and they scattered away from him in shock, buying him a few precious seconds.

" **Anti-Magic Cocoon**." He cast quickly, just in time to protect himself from the myriad of spells thrown his way by the Neogi spellcasters of which there just so happened to be a few within the crowd opposing him.

_Amateurs._ Gauldoth thought derisively as their spells splashed harmlessly against his protective dome of anti-magic all whilst he also prepared his next spell.

" **Widen Magic: Cry of the Banshee!"**

At his invocation, a piercing otherworldly howl sounded in his immediate area even as a dome of magical energy exploded from him and spread to encompass an area of a hundred meters from where he stood. Everything it touched immediately dropped dead. Well, everything unprotected against instant death at least.

A lone Neogi had survived and stood atop its now dead Umber Hulk mount staring in shock at the scene of bloodless slaughter around it.

" **Create Middle Tier Undead!** "

As his spell, one granted to him by his levels in the job class Master of Death, took hold one of the Human corpses and proceeded to consume it in a puddle of black goo which within seconds reshaped the body into a monstrous undead. Standing at two meters tall with a crooked body, the newly created Death Knight was equipped with a massive flamberge, a huge tower shield, and armor made of black metal with sharp thorns sticking out everywhere and red lines that looked like they were engraved in blood. Two demonic horns protruded from its helmet, with a disgusting, rotted face whose empty eye sockets are filled with hate and killing intent, glowing with a flashing red light being visible underneath.

"Kill it," Gauldoth ordered his creation absently.

The Death Knight nodded and promptly cut the terrified Neogi survivor in half with its huge sword. Not that its creator paid it any mind, he was too busy raising two more of its ilk with the last uses of the spell for the day that his job class granted him.

"Three Death Knights are more than enough I think." Gauldoth thought aloud. "But best to be safe than sorry. **Undeath Army**!"

Using a good chunk of his remaining magic, he raised the rest of the corpses around him as Skeleton Warriors. Including, he just noticed, a small contingent on the walls of the town itself.

_I shouldn't have been surprised, my Cry of the Banshee_ did _reach into town._ Gauldoth mused even as he fished out a mana potion from his magical pouch. As he did, he began barking orders to his undead minions.

"Go in there and kill any opposition and Neogi you find. Spare the Humans and other slaves if they surrender but not the aberrations. All the Neogi deserve is death."

Sending a mental acknowledgement of his commands, his minions turned as one and rushed into the streets of the Neogi town to enact his will. It left him vulnerable, standing alone in the field as it was and chugging down a mana potion. He wasn't worried much however. As much as they annoyed him, he _did_ trust his party to keep him safe.

"That was nicely done," Drau said as she stepped up next to him, the **Greater Unknowable** spell he'd cast over her fading away. "But you really should ration your magic a little more carefully."

Gauldoth shrugged.

"I'll work on it." He said noncommittally as he finished the mana potion and pulled out another one.

"We'll need to get more of those from Felmid at this rate." Neia observed with a wince as she and the rest of the party also appeared around him, slowly forming up in a defensive formation with him at the centre. "I think you might you'll end up finishing the last of the mana potions Lord Ainz gave me when he gifted me with my gear."

"We'll be creating a Gate to Felmid once we finish with this place," Gauldoth said nodding towards the town from which the sound of desperate fighting was drifting towards them. "We can ask for some then."

"You make a good point." Yorha told him with a nod.

"You done recharging your mana?" Drau asked as Gauldoth tossed the now empty vial of the second mana potion to the ground.

He just nodded in reply.

"Then let's finish this."

* * *

The party's march through the town was largely an easy affair. Gaul's undead minions made sure of that. More than once, a Neogi or two tried to ambush them but were quickly cut off by what Neia helpfully informed Taana were Death Knights and their growing entourages of Death Squires or mobs of his Skeletons. Sure they had to take out an Umber Hulk or Neogi here and there to help out, but it seemed the undead had the situation in control.

" _That's_ the central keep?" Drau asked incredulously as they stopped about ten minutes later in a square in front of a strange amalgamation of a typical Human keep with its stone walls and towers as well as Neogi aesthetics such as arches that resembled spider legs and urchin shaped objects studding its surface at seemingly random locations.

"Yes, the only place in this whole town where the Neogi decided they wanted to show off their architecture. Or what passes for it anyway." Master Falgrim said with a shrug. "It looks like crap to me to be honest."

"I must agree." Yorha said. "Though I don't think we should waste time on examining the merits of the tastes of a race of aberrations."

"Agreed. Sorry about that tangent." Drau said apologetically. "Any ideas on how to deal with this? My sensors are reading that outside of a few groups of stragglers in the rest of town, the last of the Neogi and their slave soldiers are huddling inside the building,"

"I could use the fresh corpses around town to raise more undead and use them to storm the building."

"I think you've summoned enough undead today, Gaul. Besides I'd rather you save your mana for other magic. We might need it."

The necromancer crossed his arms in irritation but didn't fight their leader on the matter.

"We could bombard the place, I guess?"

"With what siege equipment?" Falgrim asked with a frown before turning to Gauldoth hopefully. "Or does our resident armored mage know any spells that fit the bill?"

"I might."

"I know, but save it." Drau said as she drew and began taking aim with her long gun. "I've got this covered."

"What do you have in mind?" Taana asked curiously.

"Well, my Ispetus Mark 3 here is an _anti-materiel_ rifle. Shooting through a few feet of stone is totally doable." Drau explained, causing Taana's eyes to widen in shock. One that Master Falgrim shared by the quick look she shot him.

Ignoring the response she'd elicited, Drau pulled the trigger on her weapon and sent one of her lightning fast bullets shooting out of her gun and into the keep where it created a small crater in the wall around a neat little hole into its interior.

"Got one," Drau said, sounding pleased with herself. "A few dozen more to go."

The Neogi weren't about to just sit there and let themselves be shot to pieces though. Thus after the sixth kill, they swarmed out of the building and at the party. Of course, this was exactly what they expected.

" **Rain Arrow!** " Neia shouted, pulling back on her bow and launching a downpour of arrows at the charging mob.

" **Twin, Maximise Magic: Chain Dragon Lightning!"** Gauldoth incanted, unleashing a pair of Lung Dragon-shaped lightning bolts that swam through the ranks of the Neogi forces, electrocuting scores of them.

" **Grasscutter Sword!** " Yorha whispered as she swung her sword horizontally and unleashed a powerful wave of energy that cut through anything it touched, decapitating whole ranks of the enemy in a single stroke.

In comparison, Taana's own **Lightning Bolt** and Drau's sniping of the last of the Neogi were little more than minor add ons to the carnage their teammates unleashed. Heck, Master Falgrim didn't even get to do anything. They were all dead before any of even got within range of his hammer!

"Any more inside?" He asked Drau, sounding disappointed at not getting a chance to kill some enemies.

"A few. Give me a moment." Drau said before taking a few more shots. "There we're done here."

"Finally." Gauldoth said with a groan.

As the party relaxed, Taana just looked at her new teammates with fearful awe. Did they know what they'd just done!? They'd just sacked a Neogi settlement that would have needed a small army to manage! All by themselves! Six of them had just done something that should have needed an army!

"I know lass. I know whatcha thinking." Master Falgrim said in a whisper as he came over and squeezed her arm. "It's a good thing we chose to sign on with them, aye?"

Taana could only nod. With the kind of power her new teammates had, maybe, just maybe, their talk of ridding the local Underdark of slavers wasn't just empty boasting after all. Maybe they _could_ make it happen. And if so…

_I want to be a part of it._

* * *

An hour after their victory, the party were happily looting the town. Gauldoth having already used a **Gate** spell to summon reinforcements from Felmid to handle the newly liberated slaves, the adventurers were free to do what they did best: plunder the conquered 'dungeon'.

Which was why Yorha, Drau, Neia and Falgrim were currently in the armory picking out what they wanted to take for themselves and what they wanted to leave for the Momons that came through from Felmid to take back with them.

Yorha had made her selection easily enough. Until now, she had been completely reliant on the Aeldari-class holofield cloak built into her dress to blur her form in battle and make her difficult to hit. While effective, she really wanted some actual protection and so had quickly taken a dragonhide buckler from the town's amory with a minor arrow deflecting enhancement as her own. Drau had likewise made her selection easily enough. Lacking a close combat weapon, she'd picked out a dagger that poisoned with every nick of an opponent for her own. Falgrim too had quickly picked out a pair of rings. One to enhance his strength and the other that boosted his constitution.

The problem was Neia. Like Drau she'd lacked a melee weapon and was set on picking out a dagger. Unfortunately, she was having a hard time making her pick.

"Should I go with the exotic Psychic damage in this one? Or maybe the higher damage per strike of this Lightning dagger instead? Oh! Which should I choose?" The Paladin cried out in dismay.

"Looks like she'll be here a while." Falgrim noted with a chuckle as he began unbuckling his armor.

"Looks like." Drau noted. "What are you doing though?"

"I dunno if you noticed, but I'm a Runesmith." Falgrim explained. "So my armor is full of all kinds of runes that help me in battle. But they burn out after a while and need replacing once the charges run out."

"So you're gonna replace them now?"

"Might as well." Falgrim shrugged as he removed his gauntlets. "It'll take a while too, so I can keep our resident indecisive cleric company."

"Fair enough." Drau nodded. "Then we'll go check up on Taana and Gauldoth up in the town's magical library."

"Sure thing. Just tell Taana to came down once she's decided what spells, if any, she wants to snag from this place. She likely needs to replace some of the runes on her armor too and I don't trust her to do it on her own yet."

"Got it." Drau agreed as they left the armory.

"Taana seems to be tipping her toes into a lot of fields isn't she?" Yorha commented as they headed towards the magical library in the upper portions of the keep they were currently in. "Magic, archery, _and_ rune magic?"

"And swordplay." Drau added. "She hasn't used it around us yet but she does carry around a short sword too. And a dagger."

"Even on the YGGDRASIL system someone with such diverse skills would be stretched thin, what more someone operating within the stricter systems governing the locals?"

Drau nodded. "Yeah, it's worrying. Thankfully, Falgrim seems to notice it too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, notice how he's not letting her apply her own runes? He's doing them for her."

"Ah! And the archery and swordplay are simply fallback options when her spells are depleted." Yorha reasoned. "If that's the case then things sound a lot more reasonable."

"Exactly. I reason he doesn't tell her to not dabble in runes because he knows she'd just do it anyway."

_She is a teenager. And she did already run away from home. Rebelliousness is clearly one of her character traits._ Yorha reasoned. _So by playing along, as it were, with teaching her rune magic he can keep an eye on what she's experimenting with._

"-what is the meaning of this!?" Gauldoth's agitated voice echoed down the corridor from the magical library.

Exchanging a worried look, both women quickly sprinted to the door. Pushing it open, they were greeted with the sight of the armored mage clutching onto a parchment and glowering down at Taana.

"What is going on here?" Drau demanded as she and Yorha stepped into the room.

Strangely enough it was Taana not Gauldoth who flinched at Drau's tone.

"Many things are going on here Drau. First off, our little Shadar-kai here is cursed to be unable to comprehend the written word. So has wasted our time by 'helping' me up here?"

"Taana, you can't read?" Yorha asked as she took a seat next to the skittish looking girl.

"I can." Taana insisted as she pulled out an ornate looking tome from her hip pouch. "Just only what's in here. This is the Tome of Lightning Magic I mentioned earlier. It's a family heirloom of mine that I kinda stole and got cursed for."

_And this curse makes it impossible for you to read the written word, yet you want to learn runic magic? An art revolving entirely around the use of written words as a catalyst? Taana! What are you thinking!?_

"That explains why you use lightning magic." Drau said with a sigh. "Gaul, I don't see why this is a problem to be honest. You can't be faulting her for stealing and while she might have not helped you with reading through this stuff, she's still a mage so surely bouncing ideas off her helped with your selection process."

"I suppose it did." The necromancer growled out reluctantly. "But that's not the real issue here."

"Okay, then what is?" Yorha asked, spearing him with a cold glare whilst patting the Shadar-kai's arm comfortingly. "What has you so upset that you would explode on poor Taana here?"

"This!" The armored mage said flashing the parchment he was holding at them. "This is a list of all the spells she knows! Can you see how long it is?"

"Yes, but what's the problem with having a wide repertoire?"

"It's 'cause I only really know how to use like maybe half of them."

"More like a third." Gauldoth countered.

"So she hasn't mastered all the spells she knows, what's the problem?" Drau pressed, though by the furrowing of her brows she had an idea. Yorha did too.

"And how pray tell will she master her spells and master her runes _and_ combat on top of that!?" Gauldoth hissed, confirming Yorha's suspicions.

"What are you suggesting Gaul?" Yorha asked. "That she give up one?"

Taana recoiled from the idea. "I can't! I need to learn my runes! If not how can I be Master Falgrim's apprentice."

"He teaches you combat skills as well, doesn't he? And general adventuring skills too." Drau offered with a shrug. "Just because you put your runic studies on hold doesn't mean you need to give it up entirely either."

"Exactly," Yorha said offering Taana an encouraging smile. "I mean with that curse of yours, you basically _need_ to focus on your magic. And you can't exactly be an adventurer and not know how to fight, so you can't neglect your combat skills either."

"I know. I know. But-"

"Are you listening to us?" Gauldoth said with an exasperated sigh. "We aren't asking you to give up your runic studies. Just postpone them until after you've mastered all your current spells."

Taana considered this for a long moment.

"Look at it this way Taana, which is more of a force multiplier in a fight? Your magic or your runes?" Drau said, trying a new tack.

"Magic," the Shadar-kai admitted in a pained whisper.

"Then which will be most helpful to Falgrim and the rest of us if you master it?"

"Magic," Taana repeated sounding defeated.

"So which should you focus with for now?"

"Magic," the teenager conceded at last.

"I'll hold you to your word." Gauldoth said, looking down at menacingly.

"I'm sure you will, Gaul." Drau said with a roll of her eyes. "But in the meantime, Taana why don't you head down to the armory. Falgrim is replacing the burned out runes in his armor. He can help you do the same for yours. You probably should tell him what you decided too."

The Shadar-kai gave a pitiful nod and practically bolted from the room. Yorha moved to follow her, but Drau shook her head.

"Give her some space. She needs it."

Yorha frowned but nodded. She hoped the other woman was correct.

"So Gaul, pick out any useful spells?"

"Nothing. Everything the Neogi have is too niche or weak for my taste." The necromancer said with a frustrated shake of his head. "It's why I had time to draw up that list."

"So this place is a bust for you?" Yorha asked, doing her best to move the volatile spellcaster away from the topic of Taana.

"Not entirely. I did find a decent upgrade to my staff hidden up here. It has a slight vampiric effect. I thought it fitting considering my specialty."

"Well, if you like it." Drau said, hiding her distaste at the weapon's magical property.

"We're going to check on the refugees." Yorha said as she stood, fishing for something to once again move things away from a potential landmine. "You want to join us?"

"No, I think I want to study this list for a while. Work out what spells will be most helpful to us and that girl should focus on mastering."

"You do that then," Drau said with a tired sigh. "Come on Yorha."

"That went well," Drau said sounding disheartened as they made their way out to the town square where the **Gate** spell's portal was located.

"At least that confrontation happened now." Yorha offered with a wince. "If we had left it to fester longer, it would've been worse."

"I know." Drau agreed. "But it's not like Taana wasn't pulling her own weight. Coming down on her so hard, is just a little-"

"Too much? I suppose it was, but it was Gauldoth that did it. We might not have known him long but I think we both know he was probably the worst choice to do it."

"Maybe," Drau said wonderingly. "Or he could be the best."

"You can't be serious."

"At least he won't coddle her."

Yorha frowned but had to agree that Drau had a point.

It was at this point that the two women exited the keep and walked out into the square. It was full of terrified or insensate humans both those rescued when they liberated the town and those they'd freed when they'd defeated the Neogi army. They were all being herded by the various undead of the Momons' legions through the **Gate** portal to Felmid. A replacement created by one of the Momon spellcasters after the one Gaul had initially used to bring them from Felmid in the first place had faded away.

"We did well today, huh?" Drau asked as they watched the scene, all her concerns about Taana apparently set aside for the moment.

"We did," Yorha agreed as she likewise focused on what they'd achieved today. "We destroyed a city of slavers and liberated hundreds of people."

"And this is only the beginning."

"Indeed it is."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> I hope the action scenes were acceptable. I still think something is missing from the D&D side of things but I'm working on it. Hopefully, things will get better as this story progresses.
> 
> And like I said these avatars of Ainz are pretty damned OP aren't they? Well, as children of the Father of OP himself they ought to be. But with the Neogi getting stomped does that mean that all opposition will basically just be rolled over by the party? Well, if they're mortal then more than likely. But they're plenty of immortal things down in the Underdark to pose a challenge for them between their stomping of the local slavers.
> 
> As for Taana's problem with stretching herself too thin. I think I covered most of the issues quite clearly in the chapter itself, so I'll just add that she'll work on it. As for the curse. Yeah, it'll come up again later. So I'm not going to spoil anything.
> 
> If anyone is wondering about Taana's current level, she's approximately a Level 11 Wizard. I'm not following D&D mechanics religiously so this is just a rough approximation. Also note her Tome allows her to ignore spell slot level limits in regards to Lightning Magic. Class restrictions too. So long as it's lightning magic and she's in possession of the tome, she can use her spell slots to cast it.
> 
> Well that's it for the chapter. Till next time proshchay!


	10. Adventuring with Avatars 3: Cave in

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 3: Cave in**

**Beta:**

* * *

Some weeks and three sacked slaver settlements later, the party was camping in a cave off a major passage of the Underdark after a hard day's travel towards their next target: an Illithid colony. Taking advantage of their downtime, the group had dispersed to different parts of the cave to do their own things. Master Falgrim and Yorha were off in one corner helping to train Neia in some basic knife fighting so she could properly use her holdout weapon. Drau was by the campfire in the centre of the cave recharging the power cell things that she used as ammunition for her guns and Yorha used to power her sword. Taana meanwhile was practising her magic under the watchful eye of Gaul.

" **Lightning Blade!"** Taana incanted, conjuring a sword blade of crackling electrical energy the size of a normal longsword into her hand. Though it only stayed that shape for a second or two before it started to spark uncontrollably and distort.

"Do you have under control?" Gaul said, eyeing the unstable spell blade warily.

"I think so," The Shadar-kai barely finished making the claim when the lightning blade almost lost all shape but through a force of will, she reined the spell back under control and it retook its proper shape.

Gaul looked at her skeptically, but Taana shot him a determined look. Letting out a loud sigh, he nodded. "Very well. Then give it a few swings. But be careful about it."

With his permission, Taana gave her elemental blade a few experimental swings. Master Falgrim had taught her the basics of swordplay since she used a dagger and sword combo as her holdout melee weapons but the moves he'd taught her required a little too much concentration to pull off when she needed all her focus to keep from losing control of her spell. So instead her swings were wild and unrefined.

Graceless though they were, the first three swings went fine. It was the fourth swing where things went the way of the Nine Hells.

"Oh shit!" Taana shouted in dismay, using one of the curses she'd picked up from Drau, as she lost control of her spell entirely mid swing and sent a bolt of lightning surging across the cave straight at the aforementioned gunslinger.

" **Spellbr-"** Gauldoth cast hastily, but he'd never finish his counterspell in time.

Thankfully, their party leader's reflexes were second to none and the moment that the electric bolt began arcing towards her she'd dropped the power cell she was holding, grabbed her rifle that she'd laid down beside her and rolled away. All in one fluid, graceful motion.

The impressive show of reflexes and dexterity would have left Taana in awe if not for the fact that her stray lightning bolt hit the power cells Drau had been recharging and caused them to immediately begin sparking dangerously.

"Run!" The armored gunslinger shouted as she ran towards Taana and Gaul. "They're going to blow."

Taana was frozen in shock but Gauldoth immediately grabbed her arm and bursting into a sprint towards one of the cave's two exits, dragging her along in the process. In her mechanical armor Drau quickly caught up to them, but the others were on the completely opposite side of the cave from them. They had heeded Drau's warning too but knowing they couldn't reach them in time they had elected to flee towards the other cave entrance instead. Thankfully, they were pretty close to it and would likely make it.

The sight of the others running was the last thing Taana saw before the power cells exploded and the ceiling came crashing down.

* * *

"They say they're alright?" Drau asked, as they huddled under the hemispheric barrier of Gaul's hastily cast **Shell Barrier** spell. It had been the only thing that saved the three of them from being crashed in the cave in.

"Yes," the necromancer said as he relayed what he'd learned from communicating with the rest of the party via the **Message** spell. "Though they didn't manage to make it out with any of our supplies. Just what they were carrying on them during the cave in."

"They have their gear?"

"Yes," Gaul confirmed. "We all had it on in case we got ambushed."

Drau breathed a sigh of relief. Supplies they could replace. Some of their gear were likely irreplaceable. That and the idea of any of her party members walking around the treacherous Underdark in anything less than their full panoply of equipment terrified her.

"I'm sorry." Taana said for the fifth time.

"It's alright Taana." Drau told the girl kindly. "Yes, this is your fault. I won't sugarcoat that. But we made mistakes too. Knowing you were training your magic nearby I should have taken precautions especially since I was recharging my power cells. Those are volatile."

"A **Anti-Magic Cocoon** around you would have prevented this."

"I know, Gaul. I know." Drau said with a sigh. "I'll remember to ask you to cast one next time."

The ornery necromancer huffed but seemed satisfied nonetheless.

"So where are we meeting up with them?" Drau asked him.

"Neia suggested the minor Drow trading post we raided last week."

Drau nodded but couldn't help but ask, "Why can't you create a **Gate** directly to the others?"

"I would if I could. Do you think I fancy wasting time backtracking?" Gaul told her in his typical irritated growl. "But I have no idea where they are exactly and I can't just create a **Gate** or teleport to somewhere I don't know. I need to at least have seen the place I want to target beforehand."

"Uh, stupid question," Taana said hesitantly. "But then how did you manage to create a portal to Felmid to bring in those Momons to help us clean up after we sack a place then?"

"I've seen Felmid before." Gaul told her in a surprisingly soft tone, as if even he didn't want to startle the still distraught girl. "Lord Ainz showed it to me in a vision when he saved me. That was good enough."

"Oh." Taana said, shrinking into herself a little again.

Drau glanced at her worriedly.

_I'll have to talk to her later._

For now though, they had best get going. Gauldoth's barrier spell couldn't hold forever.

"Alright then. Gaul, do the honors please."

"Gladly. **Gate**!"

One by one they filed through the portal and into the wrecked remains of the small Drow outpost they'd destroyed last week. It had originally been a small keep built out of a hollowed out stalactite that hung off a chasm and connected to the rest of this layer of the Underdark by a drawbridge that was defended by a fortified gatehouse. The dark elves had been using it as a processing and holding center for their slaving raids to the surface. The party naturally objected to it and by the time they had been done with it, the keep had been sent crashing into the depths below and only the battered ruins of the gatehouse remained. It was into this ruined structure that the three of them stepped into.

"Gaul, did Neia give you an approximation of when they'd get here? A week?"

"A week, yes. Maybe, slightly more if they run into any complications."

"Their emergency rations should last them a little longer than that and there's a few sources of water along the way, so that shouldn't be a problem."

"Neia said as much," Gaul said sounding unimpressed.

"Right." Drau said, ignoring the necromancer's sass. "Mind popping over to Felmid to get us some fresh supplies while we wait?"

"And where will we find the money for that?"

"We handed over most of the loot for _four_ settlements. There's enough credit there for us to replace our supplies a dozen times over. _At least_."

"Point." Gaul conceded. "I'll go. But before that. Taana!"

"Yes?" The Shadar-kai squeaked out.

"Don't practice your magic until I get back. We don't want a repeat of the cave in."

"Yes, sir." The girl replied, sounding like a kicked puppy.

"But don't slack off either. I might be gone for a day, maybe two. Work on something else while I'm gone."

"I'll help with that." Drau stepped in, offering the defeated looking teenager an encouraging smile. "We can spar and work on your melee skills. I need some practice with my dagger too anyways."

"Thanks Drau," Taana said, recovering a small fraction of her spunk. "I'll do my best!"

"I'm sure you will."

* * *

An expertly aimed sword thrust towards the vulnerable joins at the left armpit of Gauldoth's plate armor. The armored wizard easily swept the thrust wide with a sweep of his quarterstaff, however his opponent had anticipated the move and exploiting how his weapon was out of position. She made a graceful twist of her hips and thrust the dagger in her left hand at him. The weapon, which his opponent called Joltfang if he remembered correctly, wouldn't be able to penetrate his mithril armor but it was enchanted. It thus would give him a nasty electric shock even through his armor if it connected.

 _Good._ Gauldoth concluded. _But not good enough._

Using the superhuman reflexes granted to him through the **Haste** spell he'd cast on himself at the start of the spar, he swung the other end of his staff not occupied with parrying Taana's sword to knock Joltfang off target. With both her arms now knocked aside, the Shadar-kai's guard was open. Exploiting this, he spun his staff and jabbed the butt of it hard into the girl's solar plexus. This knocked the air out of her lungs and destroyed her balance, sending her toppling onto her back.

"Yield?" Gauldoth asked as he pressed the butt of his staff lightly against his prone teammate's throat.

"Yield." His sparring partner managed between deep gasps as she struggled to steady her breathing.

"You see how useful a **Haste** or other enhancement spell can be?" The necromancer asked as he lent the teenager a hand and pulled her back to her feet.

"Yeah." She agreed, rubbing the part of her chest where he'd hit her gingerly. "I'll remember to keep a preparation of it in reserve from now onwards."

"You do that." Gauldoth replied gruffly, hiding his satisfaction at having gotten through to the girl. It was getting easier as of late but the Shadar-kai was still a stubborn ass and very unwilling to take advice.

"Now that I've made my point about this, let's move on to the proper magical training for the day shall we?"

The girl was about to agree when Drau's concerned voice reached their ears.

"Guys! I need you two up here!"

The two spellcasters exchanged a look before quickly jogging out of the empty room they'd been using for training and up the spiral staircase of the mostly intact tower they'd been camping out in. It was half collapsed but it was the most intact structure in the ruined Drow guardhouse and beggars couldn't be choosers.

"What is it?" Gauldoth asked as they reached the chamber at the top of the tower. It had originally been halfway up, but they'd destroyed everything above it when they'd first sacked the place.

"We have company." Their leader said from where she was looking out the scope of her rifle which she'd jammed through one of the arrow slots built into the outer wall.

Taking a look for himself, Gauldoth saw a large number of green gelatinous masses advancing towards them across the plain the Drow that had built the tower had cleared for an unrestricted view of oncoming attackers. Hovering off the ground here and there amidst this advancing green tide were humanoids with octopus-like, ridged heads with four tentacles hanging down from their chins.

"Mind Flayers!" Gauldoth hissed.

"And a pack of Giant Slimes." Taana added fearfully.

"They're probably here to find out more about the people raiding slaver settlements aka us."

"Or they might be here looking for survivors of our escapades to enslave for themselves. Either way, they're hit the motherlode." Gauldoth dryly. "Can you take them out?"

"Yeah." Drau confirmed. "But I'll need help with the Slimes. My railgun won't be very effective against them and I don't think I can hold off that many of them with just my carbine."

"I have a few fire spells that might be useful." Gauldoth offered. "When you're ready."

"Um, what should I do?" Taana asked, fidgeting nervously.

"Lightning is a bad mix with this type of slimes. It'll just cause them to split." Drau said thoughtfully. "Why don't you watch our backs? Just in case."

The Shadar-kai deflated but nodded.

"Gaul." She waited till she saw him nodding, before continuing. "Now!"

She pulled the trigger even as the word left her mouth and in the distance a Mind Flayer's head exploded. Gauldoth himself was only a few seconds behind her.

" **Triplet, Maximize Magic: Napalm!"** The wizard cast, causing three of the advancing giant slimes to be engulfed in pillars of fire.

The Mind Flayers responded to the sudden attack with surprising speed. Even as they scattered to avoid any area of effect attacks that might be thrown their way, the Illithids began retaliating. Raw telekinetic blasts and telekinetically hurled objects rapidly began hurtling their way. Thankfully though ruined, the tower was still well built and it would take more than the efforts of a handful of Mind Flayers to take it down. Especially as Drau was quickly picking them off.

Sadly, Gauldoth was not doing as well. While his fire spells were doing damage and the Slimes were dying. There were just too damned many of them and they were steadily advancing on the tower. In fact, they were getting so close that he was starting to get genuinely worried.

"Damn it!" Drau cursed as she stowed her rifle and drew her carbine.

"Die already you green scum." The woman shouted in annoyance as she sprayed deadly superheated bolts at the tide of Giant Slimes, adding her fury to his spells. It finally did the trick and the Slimes' advance was checked, which was exactly when things just took another turn.

" **Vermilion Nova!"** Gauldoth had just finished casting, unleashing his most powerful fire spell against the closest Slime when the tower shook slightly.

"What was that?" Taana asked worriedly as she gripped her weapons tightly, almost expectantly.

"My sensors just picked up something digging its way out of the earth inside the tower's ground floor." Drau said distractedly as she continued pouring plasma bolts into the mass of Slimes, taking pains to take shots at any of their Illithid masters who were foolish enough to give her a clear shot.

"I'll go check it out!" The Shadar-kai shouted eagerly as she ran off.

"Damn it! Not alone! Gaul-"

"Already on it! **Create Middle Tier Undead!** "

At his invocation, three undead beings with spiky green hair styled in a pattern reminiscent of a flame, long angular elf-like ears and wearing a white smiling mask with yellow eye holes in the shape of four-pointed stars that fully covered its face materialized in the room. They were dressed in a black overcoat with purple outlines and white buttons and with the tip of its fingers all covered with sharp blades. These were the Middle Tier Undead of the YGGDRASIL system, Jack the Rippers.

"Go after the Shakar-kai! Protect her and eliminate any enemies you find!" Gauldoth barked at his temporary conjurations. Without any corpses to use as catalysts for their creation, these undead unlike most of those he'd created in his time in the Underdark would not be permanent. Hopefully though their one hour lifespan would be long enough to see this fight through.

Cackling madly, the three undead disappeared after Taana with their lightning speed.

Turning away from them, the necromancer returned his attention to the battle outside the tower. Completely ignoring the amused look Drau was shooting him out of the corner of her eye or her teasing whisper of "Softie."

They had a battle to win. He could prove to her he was by no means a 'softie' _after_ they were done.

* * *

Taana was still two floors away from where the Illithids had broken through when three lanky creatures suddenly appeared by her side. Startled, she immediately tensed expecting an attack but relaxed almost immediately as she recognized them as one of the types of undead Gauldoth could create. Though she'd no sooner made that observation than two of the elfin undead raced ahead of her, leaving the last of its kind to stand next to her like a guard. Which she could only assume was exactly what it was.

 _Thanks Gaul._ Taana thought with a grin as she continued her jog down to the ground floor.

She arrived to a chaotic melee. On one side were five Illithids, two dozen Human thralls, and an unfamiliar monster that had the body of a horse sized mole and a horn-like nozzle frontal projection that it used to fire acid. On the other were the two undead that had blitzed ahead earlier.

Although outnumbered, the undead were doing well. Being undead they were completely immune to the psionic domination that was the speciality of the Mind Flayers and thus the amphibious aberrations were largely powerless as they and their thralls were cut up by deadly precision attacks. Each slash happening so quickly that they left slight afterimages. Any attempt by them to use telekinesis, spells or their weapons were easily avoided by the agile evasions on the part of the undead. The madness was further added to by the way that the undead laughed hysterically as they fought.

"Help them," Taana ordered the last of the undead.

They really didn't need it, but it wouldn't hurt. The undead hesitated for a moment before seemingly giving in to the madness that defined its breed, it launched itself into the fray with a hysterical laugh and decapitated the pesky acid spitting badger thing before kicking it back into the mouth of the tunnel it had presumably dug to allow the Illithid force to enter the tower. This effectively blocked the tunnel and made a hasty escape by the Mind Flayers impossible.

As good a move as they might have been, Taana had miscalculated slightly as the act of sending away her guard caught the attention of the Illithid party's leader. The creature looked away from the one-sided slaughter of its men and turned to the Shadar-kai.

Immediately, Taana felt it attempt to slam its way into her mind and dominate her will. She would likely have succumbed if not for the Ring of Mental Aegis she'd looted from the vault of the very Drow outpost she was fighting in and which was now burning her skin as it fought to protect her mind from the powerful alien mind that sought to control it. Even with its protection, the Shadar-kai was feeling like a huge weight was pressing down on her such was the power of what she guessed must be the Illithid Psion that she was facing.

Sweat pouring down her brow at the strain on her mind, Taana shakily raised her hand at the Mind Flayer.

" **Lightning Bolt!"** She shouted desperately, sending an electric bolt at her attacker only for the Psion to telekinetically lift the most wounded of its thralls into the path of her spell, using the already dying Human slave as a living shield.

An effective one at that as it easily took the full force of Taana's spell.

Tossing the charred body aside, the Psion advanced on the Shadar-kai. Gauldoth's undead moved to intercept it but the other surviving Human slaves blocked their path. Even their agility could not allow them to get pass the suicidal living wall as they were egged on by their Illithid masters.

Taana tried to cast another spell or draw her weapons, but she couldn't. The mental weight the Psion was pressing against her mind was just too much. The pain it caused was just too intense. She thus could only collapse to her knees and clutch her head even as the aberration levitated ever closer.

"Get away from her!" A familiar voice roared suddenly as Master Falgrim leapt from behind her, over her crumpled form intent to smash his Doomhammer down on the Psion's head with a powerful overhead smash.

Reacting to this new danger, the Illithid abandoned its assault on Taana's and instead used its psychic powers to telekinetically freeze the Dwarf in mid air. Unconsciously, the Shadar-kai breathed a sigh of relief as the pressure on her mind disappeared but almost immediately sucked in a nervous breath at the sight of her Master at the monster's mercy instead.

Fortunately, Master Falgrim hadn't come alone. Blurring past her, leaving distorted afterimages as she did thanks to the strange holocloak artifact built into her dress, Yorha closed with the Illithid with her sword drawn.

" **Nine-Head Dragon Flash."** The swordswoman said in a cold, furious whisper as she thrust at the Psion so quickly that her blade seemed to become nine swords at once each of which headed straight for a vital point.

Distracted with holding Master Falgrim in place, the Illithid couldn't muster any defense against Yorha's high speed attack and collapsed back down the stairs as fountains of its silvery-white blood sprayed from nine different grievous wounds. It was dead long before it hit the floor.

Freed from the monster's telekinetic grip, Master fell to the ground next to Taana.

"Are you okay?" Both of them said at the same time, causing them both to chuckle as they helped each other back to their feet.

"Where did you two come from?" Taana asked, as they turned back to the fight.

"We'll tell you later." Master said as he jogged down the last few steps to the base of the tower. "Let's kill these things first."

"Right," Taana shouted back, embarrassed at being distracted. "Let's. **Ball Lightning!** "

* * *

Ten minutes later and the fighting was over, with the party regrouping up in the tower's highest surviving chamber.

"Here you do, Taana. **Middle Cure Wounds!** " The party's resident healer said as she used her magic to patch Neia up. "I don't know how much help it'll be against any psychic damage that Illithid might have done. But it should get rid of that headache."

"Thanks, Neia." Taana told her with that earnest smile of hers.

 _She's so adorable._ Neia thought as she returned the smile with one of her own.

"You need to work on your resistance to psionics." Gauldoth said with a frown. "That ring you picked up protects against mental manipulation. It doesn't negate the power of a psychic assault."

"One more thing to work on." The Shadar-kai said with a sigh.

"Now, now, none of that." Falgrim told his apprentice. "At least we know it's a weakness and can now work on it. Better than finding out after its gotten you killed or worse."

"Exactly," Neia said encouragingly. "We can be on the lookout for a better mental protection item too. Either way we _will_ fix this weakness of yours."

"Thanks guys," Taana said offering that smile of hers again.

If Neia was less in control of herself she'd have glomped the taller girl and squeezed the living daylights out of her by this point. She was that adorable.

"So, um, how did you three get here?"

"Well, we found the Illithids were heading your way yesterday sometime after our daily check-in and with no way to use **Message** we couldn't tell you three so we decided to hurry up instead. See if we could catch them in the rear while they were fighting you guys."

"That's a problem." Drau cut Falgrim's explanation off suddenly, sporting a worried frown. "We need to find some way to keep in touch if we're ever separated again. Relying on **Message** when only Gaul can cast it isn't going to work."

"I might have a solution to that." The aforementioned necromancer said as he climbed into the chamber with a stack of skins that by the coloration Neia guessed were freshly flayed from the Mind Flayer corpses at the base of the tower. "With these Mind Flayer skins as ingredients I can produce enough **Message** scrolls that everyone else in the party will have at least three of them."

"Flaying Mind Flayers for ingredients? How ironic." The Paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown said with a darkly amused chuckle.

Everyone laughed too, it was just too poetic to _not_ be amused by it.

"Anyways, as I was saying." Falgrim said as he continued the tale. "We were on the tail of the Illithids and saw them as they started their attack on you guys. Seeing that we hoofed it."

"We arrived roughly after you ran down to deal with the tunnel party." Neia said, picking up the tale. "The moment Gaul spotted us, he created a **Gate** portal next to us so we could join him and Drau up here."

"Falgrim and I came through right away." Yorha added. "We wouldn't have been much use against the Slimes. Once we got here, we learned what you'd done and we rushed down to help you."

"And you saved me." Taana was honest enough to admit.

Yorha offered her a kindly smile and squeezed her shoulder. "I was happy to do so."

The Shadar-kai offered a smile back at the swordswoman. It wasn't her adorable grin but it was close enough considering the situation.

"So, um, what was Neia doing through all this?" Taana asked after a moment, shooting the Paladin a curious look.

Puffing up her modest chest with pride, Neia replied. "I destroyed the Slimes."

"We helped." Gauldoth insisted stubbornly, earning himself a jab to the ribs from Drau. Considering he was wearing plate armor, Neia didn't think he felt it but it nevertheless shut him up so she counted it as a win.

"I suppose Drau and Gaul did help a little." Neia allowed nevertheless. "But I did most of the work."

"How?" Taana asked curiously.

"I would like to know that too, actually." Yorha chimed in. "I know you said you could handle it. But you never said how."

"I'm curious too." Falgrim added.

"Did you forget I'm a Paladin and that Slimes are weak against positive energy?" Neia asked, waving a finger at them teasingly. "Lord Ainz might mainly grant me negative energy spells but as my healing magic shows he can grant positive energy spells too. All I needed was to cast **Mass Greater Cure Wounds** and viola! The Slimes were toast!"

 _Come on! Praise me!_ Neia thought playfully. She didn't really need the praise per se, but she'd like it nonetheless. In a party where her skill as a ranged combatant was overshadowed by Drau's and which rarely needed any healings, even Taana and Falgrim rarely got more than a few scrapes in fights, she wanted some validation.

"Wow! Neia that was awesome!" Taana said obligingly.

"Yes, you did well." Yorha said offering Neia a proud smile.

"You're one powerful Paladin that's for sure." Falgrim said with a hearty chuckle. "Taking out a whole army of Giant Slimes with one spell? Impressive."

"Thank you, thank you." Neia said, offering them all a bow for their gracious comments.

"Happy now Neia?" Drau asked with an amused grin.

"Very," the Paladin confessed.

"Alright, then let's plan our next mo-"

"Is there any question?" Falgrim asked, cutting their leader off. "We go after the Illithid scum."

"Any objections?" Drau asked.

No one said a word.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow we set off to take out the Mind Flayers who had the gall to come after us and teach them a lesson about picking a fight with us."

This was met with bloodthirsty grins from everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hope you guys liked it.
> 
> I must say I really got into writing this one. I think I've discovered the best route to keep up both my interest in this story and in delivering a good story: use Taana and to a lesser extent Falgrim as my lens for things. As a reasonably weak character focusing on her development is good and having her strive to match up with her OP teammates is entertaining as hell. That said, she won't be the sole POV going forward. Just likely the most central one.
> 
> Another thing I want to note is that the Giant Slimes and that badger thing are original monsters to the canon D&D universe thought the Slimes were based on a Homebrew I found online. Illithids are constantly experimenting with creatures so creating new ones seems right up their alley.
> 
> So I got a review on FFN from a guest yesterday on chapter two that found fault with Ainz saying "Peace, Demiurge." Since it's a guest and I can't reply directly, I'm going to respond here. That's just Ainz trying too hard to seem like a noble ruler. If he seems off that's because he's doing it wrong like he does all the time in canon.
> 
> Well that's all this chapter. Till next time farvel!


	11. Adventuring with Avatars 4: Revenge on the Illithids

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 4: Revenge on the Illithids**

**Beta:**

* * *

Using Falgrim and Taana's map of the local Underdark, now updated with information scavenged from the ruins of the settlements the party had sacked, locating the likeliest source of the Illithid attack was easy. While there were a handful of the Mind Flayers' settlements in the region, there was one reasonably close _and_ was known for its use of Slimes. Considering the Giant Slimes used in the attack, there was little doubt that it was the source. Thus it was that they found themselves hiding behind a rock and under the cover of Gaul's **Greater Unknowable** as they observed the unassuming crack in the side of a cavern wall that served as the entrance to the Illithid colony.

"I take it they were going for unassuming?" Drau asked with a frown as they eyed the entryway.

Normally Gaul's spell made communication even within those under the same effect all but impossible, but some experimentation on its parameters and lacing it with elements of a **Message** spell by the necromancer had allowed them to at least hear each other. Though only in soft whispers.

"At first at least," Falgrim agreed. "But after awhile they probably got strong enough to stop caring about discretion."

"That would explain why the two Urophions serving as guards are behaving so strangely." Taana said with a shiver as she pointed at the two creatures by the door that vaguely looked like stalagmites but with the addition of numerous thick tentacles, a single milky eye near its top and a horrible circular maw that resembled a lamprey's mouth. Neither of which seemed concerned at all with the discretion their kind normally did and were actively waving their tentacles threateningly.

"Yeah, aren't they usually ambush attackers?" Neia asked with a frown.

"Which is why them giving away their position like this is a show of strength." Gaul explained with a huff. "The Illithids of this colony are so confident in their capabilities that they would rather flaunt their presence than hide it."

"Let us disabuse them of that notion of strength, shall we?"

Drau's rhetorical question was nonetheless met with a chorus of affirmatives.

"Gaul, would you do the honours?"

"Glady. **Explosion!** "

At his invocation, a powerful explosion ripped apart the entire area of the Illithid colony's entrance. Such was the strength of the blast that not only were both Urophions disintegrated but a good chunk of the entrance they guarded was likewise destroyed, revealing a battered passageway leading deep into the Mind Flayers' settlement.

Already, the first confused and wary squads of defenders, mainly thralls of various races but also the odd Illithid, were spreading out from their wrecked entryway in search of their attackers with even more streaming out from deeper in the complex warren that was the colony.

"Gaul, wait for it." Drau hissed, watching as the number of defenders outside the entryway grew more numerous. When over a hundred or so were outside, she finally gave Gaul the go ahead. "Now!"

" **Gate!** "

A flat disc of swirling darkness formed at his command right in the heart of the squads of the colony's defenders and from its depths stepped out six Death Knights walking abreast. Their sudden appearance right in the middle of their ranks, stunned the enemy. The undead however had no such moment of hesitation and capitalizing on the defender's own, swung their massive flamberges in deadly arcs that killed dozens before the defenders could respond. A response that was hampered as an army of smaller Skeletons surged forth from the **Gate** and out from behind the wall the Death Knights' oversized Tower Shields provided to harass them. At the same time, the Skeletal Archers and Mages also poured out of the portal and added their ranged attacks to the fight.

"Is that enough?" Gaul asked as his **Gate** spell faded. "Or should I **Gate** in some of the other undead I sent back to Felmid?"

"No, I think that's enough." Drau reasoned. "Besides there is some poetic justice in only using the undead created from the corpses of those the Illithids sent against us to destroy their colony."

"It is just indeed." Neia chirped.

"That's one way to put it." Falgrim grunted. "But let's get going. As impressive as that little undead band is, I dunno how long it'll hold out against a whole Illithid colony."

"Agreed. Let's go." Drau agreed and they set off.

It was difficult going, especially since they couldn't see each other while under **Greater Unknowable**. But they'd had plenty of time to practice. Gaul could only create three mid-tier undead a day after all, so they had waited two days to allow him to amass his little undead host. Add that to the day or so they'd taken to travel to this place and they'd suitably become proficient in keeping together invisible. It helped that Neia had suggested they all hang onto a rope as they moved.

"Wow. The Illithid are getting slaughtered." Taana noted with awe. "I think there might be more Zombie Squires out there now than living defenders."

"Which is exactly what we want." Drau said as she tugged on the rope to signal a stop as they reached the breach they'd blasted into the Mind Flayer colony. "Hug the wall."

The party had stopped just in time. As moments before they'd all come to a halt and got out of the way, a large contingent of heavily armed thralls and their Illithid overseers marched past them to confront the growing undead army. There were so many of them that they had to wait for a good five minutes or so before they all finished streaming out and into the fight.

"Alright, the coast is clear." Drau said as she pulled on the cord to get everyone moving again.

"Think that was their main army?" Neia asked as they stepped over the rubble they'd created and into the wrecked entryway. All along the walls of the long hall carved from the rock was a strange organic growth with the occasional orb like growth that gave off a bioluminescent glow that served as lighting.

"Judging by their equipment? I'd say it's at least a portion of it." Falgrim opined.

"Let us hope that it is the bulk of them." Yorha chimed in. "The less enemies inside this abominable place the better."

This was met with murmurs of agreement from everyone as they cautiously made their way down the hall towards a spiral staircase at the far end. Every so often they paused and hugged the wall to let another squad of thralls and overseers rush out to meet their doom against their undead distraction. However, by the time they actually reached the stairwell there were no longer any more slaves running down the stairs or Illithids levitating down the extra large opening at the center.

"That seems to be the last of the reinforcements." Drau noted. "I'm not picking up any more coming down the stairs on my suit's sensors at least."

"Considering the fight outside looks like it's still in full swing, we might have actually drained their reserves." Yorha said, sounding optimistic as they began climbing the stairs.

"Maybe." Drau said consideringly. "But let's not make assumptions."

"Or they'll be the death of us." Gaul agreed. "By the way, I think we're high enough."

"Alright then. Gaul do your thing."

"With pleasure." The necromancer said with such sarcasm that it wasn't hard to imagine him rolling his eyes. Despite his annoyance, the wizard nevertheless played his part. " **Triplet, Maximize Magic: Stone Blast**!"

Drau knew that the spell Gaul was using this time was generally a weak Tier 3 spell and one of the alternative element variants of the Fireball spell. However, with a little metamagic and creativity it would do exactly what they needed. Whereas a more powerful spell might have caused an uncontrolled cave in that would have brought the roof in the whole area crashing down on them, this weaker, more controllable spell allowed their resident armored Wizard to fill the entryway with chunks of rock he'd ripped from the very walls of the stairway. These weren't small rocks either but huge boulders that would take the Illithids and their slaves outside hours, if not days, to dig through even if they managed to survive their battle with the undead.

"Good job, Gaul. Now let's go."

"Lead the way." The necromancer said sincerely, causing Drau to smile. She was getting through to her ornery brother after all!

Setting aside her joy for later, she pulled on the rope they were using to keep together and got going. They had an Illithid colony to ransack.

* * *

Half an hour, five dead groups of guards and innumerable sentries later, the party long since free of the invisibility offered by **Greater Unknowable** in lieu of being able to see each other in a fight explored the many winding passages and cavernous rooms of the Illithid colony. Something which also allowed them to see how unnerved by the plethora of alien, fleshy constructs all over the place such as what looked like brain matter serving as controls for their sphincter like doors made everyone. As if the aberrations' strange taste in decor wasn't bad enough, the damned things had to riddle their settlement with passages only accessible by levitation. Without Gaul's magic and the mapping software built into Drau's suit the party would likely be hopelessly lost.

"Are all Illithid settlements really this- I'm at a loss for words to describe it actually." Neia said as she put an arrow through the skull of a Dwarven slave while Drau took out his partner, a Drow, with her sniper rifle. Both had been standing outside a door to what the Paladin could only assume was somewhere important and were just turning towards the sound of her voice before they were taken out.

"Disgusting?" Yorha suggested helpfully as they moved over to the door they were guarding and with a look of disgust squeezed the brain and caused the muscles holding the door closed to react in just the right way to open it.

"That works." Neia agreed as she kept Ultimate Shooting Star Super at a ready to shoot anything that might lunge at them in the room. Instead of danger they found a short corridor leading to another door for some reason. It lacked any visible control mechanism however, which was why Drau was staring at it intensely trying to puzzle out how to open it.

"If they have the time to redecorate then definitely." Falgrim informed her. "They like to make things look like home I guess."

"Their home must be a revolting place then," Gaul observed.

"They _are_ aberrations." Taana pointed out with a roll of her eyes.

Thankfully, Gaul didn't see it. He'd likely take offense and they really didn't need to be fighting among themselves whilst inside an enemy base. Then again Taana knew that too.

 _Don't tell me she was being cheeky precisely because she knew he wouldn't see it?_ Neia thought to herself with a grin. _My, my, our little Shadar-kai is growing up isn't she?_

"Guys, ideas?" Drau said at last. "I think the inner door of this airlock is designed to be opened via a telepathic command or something."

"You're probably right." Falgrim agreed as he finished his own examination of the inner door. "We'll have to blast our way through."

"Gaul. Do the honours."

Taana pouted at that, probably wishing she'd get a chance to use her magic. She only had a fixed number of spells prepared for use though and thus had to keep them in reserve until they were needed. In contrast, Gaul, operating under the YGGDRASIL system as he was, could use his magic as long as he had the magical power for it. Something he could replenish easily enough with mana potions if need be. He was thus much more liberal with his magic.

"Stand back." The armored wizard said and everyone scooted away from his target. He waited until everyone was behind him, before with a subverbal incantation and a gesture he sent a **Fireball** slamming into the muscular door. The spell detonated in a small explosion and left a nice sized hall in the charred flesh.

Through the opening Neia's keen eyes saw a room full of various test tubes full of strange liquid and floating amorphous shapes that had to be a lab of some kind. More urgently in the center of the room were what seemed to be a group of adventurers in a cage about to be fed to a Gelatinous Cube that filled a large pit that was reaching up at its meal with hungry looking pseudopods.

"Help us!" The adventurers shouted even as the pair of Mind Flayer in the lab retreated while sending a tide of Green Slimes at the party.

Drau made quick work of the fleeing Illithids with shots to their backs even as Neia took out the Slimes with a **Mass Lesser Cure Wounds**.

"Please, oh please, help us!" The caged adventurers cried out desperately and Neia almost made a move to aid them when Drau raised her hand to signal her to stop.

"You know you can stop pretending." Drau said with a sigh. "My suit's sensors can tell what you lot really are perfectly fine."

 _What in the Nine Hells does Drau mean by that?_ Neia wondered even as she brought her bow to bear against the adventurers.

She'd barely managed that when they dropped their disguises and leapt out of the cage at the party, the gelatinous masses of their bodies easily squeezing through the bars to allow them through.

Caught by surprise by their unexpected nature as Slimes, Neia couldn't prepare a spell in time and had to fall back on a trusty **Explosive Arrow** to reduce the mace wielding 'adventurer' into inanimate, smoking sludge as her arrow exploded upon contact with the target.

"Bloody hell! What are these things?" Taana shouted in shock even as she dodged a punch by one of the formerly caged 'adventurers'.

"Oblex impersonations." Drau said as she took down a sword armed 'adventurer' with a burst from her carbine. The superheated plasma bullets, as she called it, of her weapon searing deep into her opponent.

"I take it these are too?" Falgrim asked gesturing to the dozen or so other 'adventurers' who were suddenly advancing on the party from the lab's shadows.

"Yes."

"Their main bodies are at 3, 10 and 12 o'clock. 100, 70, 90 feet." Drau shouted. "Take them out!"

"Help me! They are too far apart to hit with a single mass spell. **Greater Cure Wounds!** " Neia cast as Yorha parried a thrust from a rapier by one of the impersonations aimed at her heart.

Her spell easily took out the Oblex on the right. Meanwhile, Gaul heeded her request and took out the one on the left with a **Vermillion Nova** spell that engulfed the blood red slime in a pillar of flame.

"The last one is fleeing," Drau commented as she sprayed the remaining slime impersonators with deadly plasma fire.

In the distance, Neia could see a large ooze that was such a dark red in colour that it was almost black making it hard to spot in the dark lab as it tried to slither away out of some passage on the other side of the lab.

"Not on my watch." Neia shouted. "Exact bearing?"

"Still 12 o'clock. 110 feet and moving away."

"I've got it. **Greater Cure Wounds!** "

The Oblex let out a cry of a thousand tormented souls as it died as the positive energies of Neia's healing spell burned away at its vile necrotic energies. It only had to suffer a moment though before the agony proved too much and it died.

"Clear." Drau announced as she nevertheless swept the room one last time with her carbine poised to shoot anything remotely hostile.

"Then let's mark this place to check later." Falgrim said as he glared down at the imprisoned Gelatinous Cube and the half digested remains of a Dwarf floating inside its translucent mass. "I don't think we should get started with the looting until after we've cleared the whole place of enemies."

"Right. But one thing first." Drau said as she came over and unloaded a whole energy cell worth of plasma bolts into the Cube, killing it. " _Now_ let's go."

Falgrim shot their leader a grateful nod and they made their way further into the labyrinthine depths of the Illithid colony.

* * *

"This is it?" Gaul asked irritably as the party stood in front of a pair of massive mithril doors connected to large masses of flesh that had to be the muscles the Illthids used to open and close them. "The leader of this colony is inside here?"

"We've pretty much mapped out the entirety of the complex. So yeah, I think so." Drau said with a shrug. "So let's blast it open and-"

Before their leader could finish, the doors swung open forcing them to scramble back a bit. Inside was what appeared to be a chamber built around one of the many small spring fed pools that dotted the Underdark. The walls of the natural cavern that housed the pool had been smoothed and covered with the fleshy constructs that dominated Illithid construction. But the chamber itself was not what caught the party's attention.

That honour went to _what_ stood at the center of the shallow pool. Standing with water up to its elbows was a massive dragon with a squid-like head with white bloated eyes above the four tentacles drooping from its head. It had a body covered in small purple scales and wings that were little more than fleshy flaps of eldritch skin. And it was glaring at them.

If they were made of weaker stuff, the intensity of the glare alone would have them flinching back in terror. Much to Yorha's pride, none of them so much as winced.

"Just our luck, a Brainstealer Dragon," Falgrim groaned as they charged the creature. "I'd honestly thought that these things were mere horror stories and now I'm fighting one of them."

" **I** _ **am**_ **a horror story Dwarf! A real life one!"** The monster roared out, only to blink in seeming confusion when nothing happened.

"Expecting something?" Drau asked as she took a shot from her sniper rifle at the Brainstealer's eye only for it to move one of its wings to block the shot moments before she pulled the trigger. The shot nevertheless caused an explosion of the creature's ichor and shredded its wing but it did manage to save its eye. "Do you think we're stupid. We knew we were going to be dealing with Illithid. Of course, we went out and bought us some Rings of Psionic Immunity."

 _It was truly an inspired move to get Gaul to buy them for those of us who needed it when he went shopping for supplies on Felmid._ Yorha thought as she used the distraction created by Drau's shot to close with the Brainstealer. Behind her she could hear both Gaul and Taana unleash their magic and Neia her skills, whilst Falgrim kept them safe.

Unfortunately, it seemed they'd underestimated their opponent. Yorha was moments from getting into striking range when suddenly a eight feet long, yellow-green lobster-like creature erupted out of the shallows of the pool. It had four long legs, two large claws, a sturdy looking exoskeleton covered in a slimy mucus, a fan-like tail, and a mass of tentacles around its mouth.

 _I don't recognize it. I'll have to ask the others if they know what it is later._ The swordswoman though as she used the holofield built into her dress to distort her shape to aid her in evading the monster's relatively clumsy swing of its right claw and launched into an attack of her own.

" **Mancutter Blade."** The android whispered under her breath as she lashed out with her blade. The Masamune-class was already in heat blade mode allowing it to cut through most armor like butter and deal fire damage with every contact, but her skill poured her energy into it and made it even more deadly. As a result it cut through the chitinous armor of the creature with ease and bisected it.

Sadly, there were seven more where that came from and Yorha found herself forced back as another of the crustacean like monsters surged towards her.

* * *

As Yorha found herself caught in a fight against the Brainstealer 's more melee focused guards, Taana and gang found themselves having to deal with the pair of orb-shaped beings 6 feet in diameter, with a large central eye on its body, ten smaller eyes on stalks emerging from the top and a maw reminiscent of a lamprey surrounded by four large octopus-like tentacles that created an antimagic field directly in front of them. A field that easily negated the spells she and Gaul had sent the enemy's way. Fortunately, Neia's **Monster Slaying Arrow** struck true and tore off the Brainstealer's undamaged wing when it used it in an attempt to protect itself from the shot.

"Mindwitnesses and Uchuulons now?" Falgrim asked. "It's like you guys scare up the worst nightmares to fight."

"I guess we do." Drau agreed with a shrug even as they all scattered as the Mindwitnesses began shooting their eye rays all over the place. "Neia, you take the one on the left!"

"Gotcha!" Neia shouted back as Taana, feeling useless tried to make a break for the fight between Yorha and the Uchuulons. With her magic cancelled, that's where she'd be of the most help.

A spire of rock suddenly thrust up to her side and saving her from a **Disintegrate** ray that reduced most of it to dust had her flinching back.

"Don't be rash. Stay away and wait for your chance." Master Falgrim chided as he picked her up even as Gaul cast a **Rock Wall** behind her and the Dwarf, creating another defensive barrier. The spell was interrupted midway as one of the Mindwitnesses shifted its anti-magic field. But it had already done created a low wall that shielded them both from said monster's other directly deadly eye rays.

The hiss of Drau's rifle firing echoed through the room and Taana chanced a glance its direction even as her Master tossed her behind a large rocky outcrop Gaul had created. She saw as one of the Mindwitness was cored by the shot, a large gaping hole appearing in the centre of its mass. Despite that though, the damned thing was still alive and raked its eye rays over Drau's position forcing her to use some fancy moves to avoid getting killed.

Neia however had more luck. She might have taken a little longer to line up her shot but her **Monster Slaying Arrow** took out her Mindwitness in a single hit. Though by the time that happened, Drau had also finished hers off with a few bursts from her carbine.

Seeing the Mindwitnesses dead, the Brainstealer changed tactics and breaking off four of the five surviving Uchuulon from where they'd been trying to box Yorha in, it sent the monsters after the rest of the party instead. Did the idiot honestly think they were going to be enough?

" _Now_ you can join in." Master told Taana as he charged forward to intercept the nearest of the Uchuulons.

"Gladly." Taana said even though her Master was too busy dancing around his monstrous opponent's grabbing claws to hear her. " **Moonbow!"**

Conjuring three glowing motes of electricity around her, Taana sent them hurtling towards three of the Uchuulons. Killing one that was already peppered by fire from Drau's carbine and stunning the ones headed for Neia and Gaul.

This gave the armored Wizard the opening he needed and he shot the small flame that was a signature of his **Hell Flame** spell at his opponent. This ember immediately latched onto the twisted crustacean and quickly grew into a raging inferno that proceeded to reduce it to ash in a burst of black flames. Neia in contrast dealt with her stunned opponent with another **Monster Slaying Arrow** , taking it out with a single arrow.

Meanwhile, Yorha and Falgrim had defeated their opponents through pure martial skill. The latter decapitating her opponent with a graceful swing of her blade whilst Falgrim smashed his to a bloody smear with his warhammer.

Even as Taana observed her teammate's victories, she did a quick tally of the spells she could still cast. _I'm down a_ _ **Lightning Bolt**_ _and a_ _ **Moonbow**_ _. Between the_ _ **Mage Armor**_ _I cast before we entered the colony, I've used up one cantrip and two spell slots. There's plenty left to wreck this dragon!_

* * *

Seeing as its guards had all been defeated, the pained Brainstealer Dragon finally managed to work through its agony enough to attempt to flee. With its wings ruined, the dragon had to resort to somewhat more esoteric methods and prepared to planar shift.

 _Oh, no you don't!_ Gaul thought.

" **Anti-Magic Cocoon!"** The armored necromancer cast over the whole room, effectively effectively negating all magic, by YGGDRASIL standards, attempting to move in or out. Including the Brainstealer's **Plane Shift** ability.

The abomination looked around in confusion, unable to comprehend why it could not escape.

"Just something to keep you in place so we can kill you." Drau said with a smirk in her voice as she fired her sniper rifle and took out one of the dragon's eyes.

The Brainstealer released a howl of agony that Gaul suspected would be much worse if he could actually hear the damned thing's telepathy. Fortunately, his undead nature made him immune. It would be a pain to have to fight with his opponent's pained cries ringing in his head. It was annoying enough having to hear its audible cries.

Sadly while its psychic attacks were unable to affect them thanks to their racial immunities and items, that immunity did not extend to their surroundings and the reeling Brainstealer began telekinetically ripping whole chucks out of the walls of the chamber to send flying at them. This was mixed in with liberal attempts to capture and constrict them with its tentacles and rake them with its claws, though its uncoordinated, pained movements made those physical movements easy to dodge for the only one within range, Yorha. Even the flying masses of earth were barely a hindrance to the swordswoman as she gracefully jumped through the storm of boulders without much difficulty while everyone hunkered down inside the dome created by the **Wall of Protection from Arrows** spell that he cast.

Safely ensconced in the spell's protection, they unleashed their fury.

" **Electric Orb!"**

" **Vermilion Nova!"**

The lightning and fire of the two casters' spells were joined by the rapid shots from Drau's sniper rifle and a **Monster Slaying Arrow** from Neia. These attacks had the already wounded Brainstealer writhing in even more torment as it was littered with a growing collection of new injuries. It was thus too addled to even realize that Yorha had gotten above its head. The swordswoman fell with the grace that seemed to characterize her every move and with a mighty swing of her sword cut the monster's head off its long slender neck.

Immediately, the swirling mass of rock that the Brainstealer had lifted into the air as weapons crashed down to the ground almost crushing Yorha but in an impressive feat of speed she blurred into the safety of Gaul's barrier barely avoiding being splattered at least three times in the process.

"Looks like we won." Falgrim said with a chuckle. "We actually won!"

"Did you expect anything less?" Drau asked curiously.

"Maybe a little? Can you blame me? That was a bloody Brainstealer Dragon!"

While Gaul hadn't shared the Dwarf's doubt. In hindsight, he could see his point.

"Well, if we're done clearing the place of its monstrous owners. Why don't we get down to business and start liberating any slaves still alive?" Neia asked, a mischievous look on her face. "Oh! Sorry, and loot the place. I forgot about that."

Gaul rolled his eyes. The Paladin was always so eager about going about their divinely mandated liberating mission that it was annoying. She was useful company though, both in a fight and as a general traveling companion, so he said nothing. No point poisoning their relationship.

"Neia's right. Let's get started." Drau said, before looking over everyone. "Unless someone needs a break?"

A round of negatives had their leader nodding and they set off to do what they always did after sacking a slaver settlement.

* * *

"Okay, the Momons are tending to the freed slaves." Falgrim declared as he, Taana and Neia returned from the slave quarters where the undead servants of Ainz Ooal Gown were processing the newly liberated and stepped into the lab from earlier. "Found anything good?"

"Unfortunately not." Drau told him with a shake of her head. "I knew Illithids didn't really get physical and weren't going to equip their slaves with anything all that special but the selection in their armory was just pathetic."

"Anything _here_ worth keeping then?" Neia asked as she skipped around the room examining anything that caught her interest.

The Paladin had been hyper ever since she'd given a sermon about the greatness of her god to the slaves before handing them over to the Momons. Something about how they'd really bought into her message. Falgrim honestly couldn't see it. They had looked as dull eyed and lost after the sermon as they'd been before but the Dwarf wasn't about to burst the girl's bubble. Besides she supposedly had some unique job classes only available in the YGGDRASIL system that allowed her to resonate with a crowd, so maybe she was right after all.

"Not any items." Gaul said from some distance away where he was seated in front of some alien looking lab equipment.

"What do you mean, Gaul?" Taana asked respectfully. As befits the fact that the necromancer had effectively become the Shadar-kai's mentor in the magical arts. It should have rankled Falgrim that his apprentice was essentially being poached, but the Dwarf was mature enough to know that he'd never been able to help the young woman in every aspect of her abilities. As such he was more than happy that she was branching out and finding help in areas he couldn't help her with.

"He means this." Yorha said showing them an amorphous black Slime with glowing red veins running through its mass that was crawling up and down her arm. "I'm calling it Kuro. It means black in the tongue of the Bone Father."

"Fitting." Taana said, eyeing the creature warily. "Are you keeping it as a pet?"

"That's the plan." Drau said, sounding resigned as she gestured at how Yorha was stroking the creature affectionately.

"What is it?" Falgrim asked. "I've never seen or heard about a Slime like it."

"Don't touch it," Gaul said casually reaching out to catch Neia's hand as she curiously reached out to touch Kuro. "It has the ability to consume almost anything."

Neia pulled her hand back like she was burned. "But Yorha-"

"Is immune it seems." Gaul explained, sounding thoroughly intrigued. "Her entire body is blessed by Lord Ainz. It is what allows her to function off Felmid despite the curse that normally destroys all Felmidian technology. This same blessing seems to extend to an immunity to this creature-"

"Kuro," Yorha corrected.

"Kuro's," Gaul corrected himself. "Ability."

"So besides being to eat literally anything, what can it do?" Falgrim asked, still looking at Yorha's new pet warily.

"Well, if the Illithids' notes are correct it, like a doppelgänger, can imitate other living beings. Though only those it consumes. Those however it can mimic with near perfect accuracy, with the exception of divine favour."

 _That's terrifying. If the Mind Flayers had something like that…_ The thought didn't even need contemplating.

"Seems pretty deadly. What's the catch?"

"That my dear Paladin is that Kuro here was simply a prototype. One which was too corrosive and too quickly grew resistant to psychic domination as it fed more and grew stronger for the Mindflayers' tastes. They were working to create something a little less extreme and easier to control."

"Sounds like something they would cook up," Falgrim said with a sigh.

"So how did you earn its loyalty Yorha?" Taana asked curiously. "Do you have some Tamer skills or something?"

"Not at all. Kuro was simply hungry, so I fed him."

"What did you feed him?" Falgrim asked, already having a good guess on the answer.

"The corpse of the Brainstealer Dragon."

Falgrim groaned.

"Cheer up, Falgrim. That means that in a pinch we'll have a Brainstealer to back us up."

"Or turn on us." The Dwarf argued. "One that can destroy almost anything it touches."

"It's fine. I'll keep Kuro in line." Yorha insisted, looking at him with a pleading look.

It looked so out of place on the swordswoman's flawless face yet fit perfectly. It is also reminded Falgrim of long repressed memories of a little girl looking at him with a similar look when she wanted something. Looking away and shoving the bittersweet memory back in the figurative lock box in his mind, Falgrim nodded his acceptance.

"Now that everything's settled. Shall we decide on where we go next?" Drau asked pulling up the map they were using to determine the targets for their raids.

"I vote here." Taana said pointing to the Kuo-toa city about three weeks journey away. "It might be a little far but its the biggest slave trading hub in the region. If we want to step up our campaign against the slavers, we should hit it next."

Falgrim nodded in agreement with his apprentice's assessment. _Her strategic thinking is coming along nicely I see._

"Any objections?"

"We'll come back to clean up the slavers we'll be bypassing to hit the city won't we?" Neia asked with a frown as she eyed the various small slaver settlements between them and the Kuo-toa. "Unless you want us to clear them out along the way?"

"That's not a good idea." Yorha countered. "Too much chance of giving the Kuo-toa to fortify themselves. It'll make our job needlessly more difficult. But, like you say, we can deal with them _after_ we finish with the Kuo-toa."

"Then I'm good." Neia said with a slight frown.

No one else said anything.

"Then let's go teach some men-fish a lesson, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hope you guys liked it.
> 
> If anyone's wondering why the Illithids in the chapter have so many relatively rare monsters in their command. The meta reason is that I wanted variety. The in-universe reason is easily inferred. They are a colony dedicated to researching the creation of new forms via ceremorphosis alongside research on Slimes. With a Brainstealer as a leader, it shouldn't be surprising. It's an unusual form for an Illithid, of course it'll be curious if other unusual forms can be created.
> 
> So I got a review form Allhailthesith over on FFN last chapter, my response to which I feel I should share so here's an edited version of it.
> 
> Ainz's avatars are not a normal god's avatars. They were created with a specific purpose very different from the norm of spreading their glory. They were created to explore the world as adventurers because that's what Ainz wants to do. It's a oft repeated aspect of his characterization in canon and something that iirc I explicitly stated at least once. Doing to do all this legendary feats? Those he can do himself. The avatars are designed to be an outlet for his adventurous, human spirit.
> 
> Speaking of legendary actions, despite the avatars not going out of their way to do such. They are already doing so. Just not on the a cosmic scale. Clearing an entire region of the Underdark of slavers which is their current aim is no small feat. Things will balloon a little from there but it'll never reach the truly cosmic scale. Doing so would be counterproductive to the entire reason that they were created.
> 
> Lastly, just to let you guys who were hoping for it know this is not a multi-cross. Ainz will interact with other verses but not in this story. Plus I have no plans to ever describe those interactions in depth. If you want to see what I might do then read my other fic Why Cute Witches Should Deal With Outsiders (And Their Lairs). How Ainz's leaves his mark there is about the extent I would do a cross into a third verse.
> 
> That's it from me for now. So till next time xatirgirtinî!


	12. Adventuring with Avatars 5: Family Troubles

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 5: Family Troubles**

**Beta:**

* * *

The party was trekking through the Underdark towards the Kuo-toa city that was their next target of their anti-slaver campaign in good spirits. While maintaining a cautious wariness against a potential ambush, a constant threat in the Underdark, they were nevertheless chatting amicably with each other. Mainly over Yorha's affectionate treatment of her new pet and some of the more humorous things that had happened to Taana in her recent magical training.

However, as Drau's sensors pinged a host of unknown contacts she raised a clenched fist to signal a stop.

"What is it?" Falgrim asked, tightening his grip on his weapon, Doomhammer, and the whole party formed up into a circle.

"We've got company." Drau said simply. "A lot of company."

"What kind-"

Before Neia could finish her question, the answer presented itself as almost a hundred Shadar-kai stepped out of the shadows and surrounded them.

"Is that how a proper **Shadow Jaunt** looks like?" Gaul commented idly. "It's certainly better than anything Taana can manage."

"Yeah, I've never been very good at it." The aforementioned Shadar-kai admitted with a pout. "It's why I'm working on something else."

The others chuckled as Taana's words brought to mind the spell in question that she'd been practising with lately. Drau however kept her cool and searched the ranks of the newcomers for their leader. She was saved the trouble when a man in an ornate cloak stepped forward.

"Cousin Taana," the apparent leader of the Shadar-kai host said in greeting. "You know why we have come."

Drau shot their party's resident lightning Wizard a questioning glance.

"Cousin Lorien, I don't actually." Taana said defiantly.

The leader, the girl's cousin it seems, narrowed his eyes. "I'm here to recover the Tome of Lightning Magic that you stole."

"I didn't steal anything. I _am_ the rightful inheritor of the Tome."

"You took it, the priceless heirloom of our family, without permission. Rightful inheritor or not, that is theft." Taana's cousin insisted. "If that were not the case, you would not be afflicted by the curse protecting the Tome as you are."

_That actually makes sense._

"I needed it." Taana said with a shrug. "I wouldn't have survived out in the world without it."

"Then perhaps you should have waited for your turn and inherited instead of stealing it."

Taana looked ready to say something to further inflame the situation, so Drau stepped in. She'd rather avoid a fight with what appeared to be her partymate's family if she could help it.

"Taana, couldn't you just return the Tome? I mean after you've copied down the spells you use most often elsewhere that is."

"That is a reasonable compromise." Lorien acknowledged.

"No," Taana said flatly, causing Drau to groan. "If you lot want it back so much that you brought a whole army to take it away from little old me then go ahead and try taking it."

Her cousin bristled at the taunt.

"You're hardly alone." The man shot back heatedly. "And based on the reputation of your friends, nothing less than an army was necessary."

"So we've developed a reputation, huh?" Neia noted with a chuckle.

"Is it _really_ a surprise after everything we've been doing lately?" Gaul drawled.

_Argh! Why are they not taking this seriously? Do they want this to come down to a fight!?_

Suppressing her annoyance, Drau cleared her throat to regain everyone's attention before turning to Taana.

"Taana, why won't you just return the Tome. That will lift the curse won't it?"

"It would." The Shadar-kai leader confirmed.

"But it'll make it impossible for me to use some of my spells." Taana countered. "The Tome lets me use _all_ lightning spells regardless of level and class restrictions. Without it, there'd so much I wouldn't be able to do."

"That's a valid reason." Gaul said, causing Drau to suppress a groan. Of course, the necromancer would prioritize their combat ability over good relations with Taana's estranged family. At least Falgrim got the point as evidenced by how he was shaking his head in disappointment at his apprentice's behavior.

"That's rather selfish of you, Taana." Drau observed. "I really think you should hand it over. We don't need to make enemies of your family."

"No." Taana declared stubbornly.

"Then you force our hand cousin." The Shadar-kai leader said with a genuinely sad cast to his face. "Attack!"

* * *

The moment Cousin Lorien had given the signal to attack dozens of his men used **Shadow Jaunt** to teleport into the party's own shadows in an attempt to knife them in the back. Thankfully, they were too skilled for such a simple tactic to take them out and managed to either parry the strike or evade it.

Taana herself had managed to kill her attacker by parrying the thrust from his short sword, creating an opening that she promptly used to stab Joltfang into his neck. She'd charged the dagger with **Infuse Lightning** last night so the stored electricity surged through her opponent's body despite the relatively shallow wound and finished him off. It was almost a waste of the charge, the opponent wasn't all that strong, but dealing with him quickly was a priority.

With her immediate opponent out of the way, she scanned her surroundings to see who in the party needed help. She spotted Gaul dueling with a pair of Wizards. They had launched **Lightning Bolt** s at them, but he'd had simply raises **Anti-Magic Cocoon** and negated their attack. Unfortunately, this left him distracted for a moment and the Shadar-kai closest to him, likely the one who'd tried to ambush him earlier and which he'd knocked away with his staff, lunged at him at his open back.

_Not on my watch._ Taana thought. _**Lightning Leap!**_

At her mental invocation, she transformed into a line of lightning, leaving a smoking trail as she blitzed in front of Gaul's attacker. The moment she returned to her normal form, she parried the incoming blade it with her own sword before following it up with a point blank **Lightning Bolt** , killing her fellow Shadar-kai which she belatedly realized was her cousin Noxi. He was roughly the same age as her and they used to play with when she was younger.

_It's not like we've been close in years._ Taana thought as she walked over the corpse to engage another of the attackers. _More importantly, looks like I've finally managed to figure out_ _ **Lightning Leap**_ _. Oh! And thank goodness for the new spell slot too its saved in too, I guess._

* * *

Gaul felt the hair on the back of his living skin stand as Taana used the **Lightning Leap** spell she'd saved up in the new spell slot she'd unlocked recently. Both the spell slot and her mastery of the aforementioned spell were products of her hard work and dedication.

_And many meetings with cavern walls._ The necromancer thought to himself with an amused smirk as he recalled how the party's lone Shadar-kai's practice with **Lightning Leap** had led her leaping into hard surfaces on more than one occasion. Even as he reminisced on recent events however he distractedly cast **Chain Dragon Lightning** to take out the attackers' two mages and another trio besides, leaving charred corpses in the wake of his spell.

"They are rather pathetic." He mused absently. "I can see why Taana abandoned them. **Chain Dragon Lightning!** "

Again he sent a lightning bolt shaped like a Lung Dragon streaking through the Shadar-kai ranks, taking down at least a dozen of their number. This seemed to paint him as a threat however and no less than five rogues used **Shadow Jaunt** to teleport into close quarters range and attempt to kill him. They severely underestimated his skill with his quarterstaff however and though hard pressed, he nevertheless held them off whilst suffering little more than a handful of scraps to his armor.

When Taana joined the fray, things just got worse for the Shadar-kai though the tide wasn't quite turning yet as more and more of their attackers leapt at them.

_And how long exactly do they think they can keep this up I wonder?_ The necromancer mused as he cracked the skull of a Rogue with a powerful swing of his staff and he saw Taana bisect another with a **Lightning Blade**. Her physical sword apparently having been lost at some point. Not that she needed it as the charred remains at her feet created by her spell blade could attest.

The armored wizard allowed himself only a moment to admire the sight however before he went back on the offensive.

" **Undeath Army!"**

At his command, the corpses that littered the battlefield rose as Skeletons and charged the remaining Shadar-kai alleviating the numerical disadvantage that the party had been suffering until now.

_Let's see what you can do when your one advantage is gone. Shall we?_ Gaul thought to himself with a bloodthirsty grin as he prepared to unleash the Nine Hells on the Shadar-kai through his magic.

* * *

Even as the Gaul went on a rampage while Taana watched his back, Yorha blitzed through the mob of Shadar-kai. Most of them were Rogues of some description thought there was a sprinkling of Fighters in the mix and lashed out at her with their weapons, many of which were admittedly sparking with stored electrical energy. They never got anywhere close to striking a clean blow however as the swordswoman's holofield and the afterimages it created threw off their aim as she rushed past them. She in contrast had no such trouble and cut them down with every swing of her sword.

Though to be fair, Falgrim was taking out a good number of them with bone breaking, skull crushing blows from his hammer and Drau was mowing them down with her carbine. The Shadar-kai, especially but not limited to the Rogues, tried to use their **Shadow Jaunt** ability to keep ahead of them, teleporting from shadow to shadow but the transportation wasn't instantaneous and they were vulnerable for the few seconds it took them to fade into the shadows. Seconds that the party gladly took advantage to finish them off.

Unfortunately, not everyone in the party was having an easy time of the fight. Neia was being hard pressed by a trio of quickly teleporting Rogues. Caught in close quarters, the archer found herself forced to defend herself with her dagger and was barely managing to avoid injury by dint of her excellent armor and sharp reflexes.

Taking out the nearest opponent with a casual swing that bisected the Fighter through his light armor and the buckler he'd tried to raise in his own defense, Yorha rushed to Neia's side. A Shadar-kai with a spiked chain tried to waylay her but she easily leapt over the stake like head of his exotic weapon.

"Kuro," she whispered and her pet responded immediately by leaping off her neck where he'd been resting like a scarf directly into the face of the fool with the chain and got down to eating his lunch.

_Hang in there Neia._ The android thought as she closed with her partymate's desperate fight, having to raise her buckler to deflect a brace of throwing knives thrown her way by one of the paladin's opponents as she got close.

* * *

Neia was not having a good day. She was a ranged fighter and faith based caster damn it! She wasn't supposed to fight in close quarters. Unfortunately, her current enemies didn't seem to have caught the memo as the saying went on Felmid. That was not to say she was completely useless in close quarters combat, Drau and months of drilling with her hold out knife had seen to that. But she was no specialist in the arena and her three opponents most definitely were. She was thus lucky that between her Turtle Shell armor and her own mediocre skill with a blade, she'd managed to avoid getting killed quite yet.

_Though if this keeps up I doubt that'll stay true much longer._ Neia thought as she barely parried a dagger thrust with her own blade whilst simultaneously ducking her head to avoid a pair of smaller throwing knives.

"Neia! Go prone!" Yorha shouted and the Paladin immediately followed through on the swordswoman's command, dropping to the ground. She thus narrowly avoided the energy blade created by the android's **Grasscutter Sword** skill as it bisected the three Rogues that had previously been giving her so much trouble.

"Thanks Yorha," Neia shouted as she jumped back to her feet already reaching for Ultimate Shooting Star Super and nocking an arrow. The moment she was firmly on her feet again, she unleashed a skill of her own.

" **Rain Arrow!"** She hissed as she let her arrow fly, allowing her skill to transform it into hundreds more that rained down on their attackers killing dozens of the already severely depleted force. It seemed her partymates had been quite effective in thinning the enemy's numbers.

So much so that Neia's skill was the straw that broke the back of their courage and they turned to flee. Running as quickly as they could, occasionally using **Shadow Jaunt** to move even further away.

Seeing such a sight, Neia could only blink in surprise. _They've broken already? They still have more than half of their number left!_

The facts were undeniable however. The enemy was indeed running for their lives.

* * *

"Dammit all!" Drau cursed as they watched the last of the Shadar-kai attackers disappear from view. "It should have come to this."

_No it didn't._ Falgrim agreed. _But-_

"What's done is done." The Dwarf told her reaching up to give the tall woman's armored shoulder a squeeze.

"Is it?" Drau said with a shake of her head. "We all know this isn't the end of it. Taana stealing the Tome was one thing. She had a rightful claim to it and we could've used that as a basis for a compromise of some kind but after this massacre? We've made an enemy out of Taana's entire clan.

"Good riddance." Taana chimed in, hugging herself lightly. "They just tried to kill me."

"There, there. It's alright Taana." Neia said, pulling the girl into a hug. "You don't need them. You have a new family now."

"Really?" Taana asked in a shocked gasp, her eyes swimming with joy.

Neia just nodded and Taana tightened their hug as her shoulders shook as she cried into the shorter Paladin's shoulder as the latter patted her back soothingly. It was no secret that Taana was very attached to everyone in the party. The fact that she'd fought by their side against her biological family was proof of that. But to actually have the strength of their bonds confirmed like this, was clearly a bit too much for her.

"Is that really alright?" Drau said in a worried whisper.

Falgrim rolled his eyes. _What the hell would they do at times like this if I wasn't here?_

"Of course it is." The Dwarf said as he slapped Drau on the back. "You're worrying too much. It's pretty damned common for parties to become surrogate families."

"Yes, but at the cost of making enemies of one's birth family?"

"It's more common than you think, leader."

Drau frowned but nodded in acceptance.

"I just hope whatever fallout this causes it won't be something we can't handle."

"Whatever happens, we'll face it together." Yorha said reassuringly as she came over with a noticeably more plump looking Kuro riding on her shoulders as usual. "That's what families do isn't it?"

"Indeed." Even the ornery Gaul said, taking a moment away from his tallying of the newest additions to his seemingly ever growing undead army.

"I guess you're right." Drau conceded at last, sighing resignedly.

"Cheer up, leader." Falgrim told her, slapping her on the back again. "Things will work out."

The Dwarf hoped he was correct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> A short one this time. Hope it was still an enjoyable read nonetheless.
> 
> And so the party becomes a family, by Taana rejecting her birth family for selfish reasons. Does this make Taana a bad person? To an extent, definitely. That said, I never set out to write any of the party as paragons of virtue. So I hope this twist wasn't too off putting.
> 
> Well, that's it for me this time. Till next time tạm biệt!


	13. Adventuring with Avatars 6: Educating the Kuo-toa

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 6: Educating the Kuo-toa**

**Beta:**

* * *

Like when they'd sacked the Illithid colony, the party were under Gaul's **Greater Unknowable** as they observed the entrance to the Kuo-toa city that was to be their target today. Hidden behind a small rock outcrop close to the city's gate they spied on the massive clam shell acting as the gate itself. It stood at the centre of a rickety wooden wall sealing of an opening between two rock formations that led into the city. Walking out of the raised calm shell was a large Drow caravan leaving with a long line of slaves in tow.

_Looks like we have pretty good timing._ Falgrim thought to himself as he watched the slaves being marched along with their various restraints chained together to prevent escape and to make leading them easier. _At least we'll get a chance to free those poor souls too._

Though the party's plan for this assault was likely to get them killed. That said, death was better than slavery by far in Falgrim's book, so they'd still be showing them mercy.

"What's with the Drow?" Neia asked curiously.

"They have an enclave in this city if I remember correctly." Falgrim informed the party.

"So we'll have to deal with Kuo-toa _and_ Drow?" The archer asked.

"Unfortunately." Taana confirmed.

"Just great." Neia hissed in irritation.

"Don't forget the Monstrous Lobsters too." Taana added teasingly. "Look, there's a pair of them swimming laps in the moat in front of the gate."

"That doesn't change anything. We accounted for the possibility that the Kuo-toa would have allies. Just like with their passive ability to cause madness." Drau noted before inquiring. "Everyone have their Rings of Psionic Immunity equipped? They'll protect us from the madness effect."

Everyone made affirmative responses.

"Good. Then it's time to get started with our plan." Drau said once everyone had replied. "Then Gaul, begin phase one."

* * *

"Gladly," the necromancer said with a grin that was hidden from the others by the closed visor of his helm. " **Widen Magic: Gate!"**

His spell created an oversized oval portal of swirling darkness some distance away from the Kuo-toa's city gate from which his now vastly expanded army of undead surged forth. With all the killing the party had been doing lately, he'd plenty of opportunity to ply his necromantic arts and had thus greatly added to the number of his minions. They remained largely simple Skeletons but they numbered in the hundreds now and were backed up by twenty two Death Knights. His army was thus not to be trifled with.

It was because of this that caused both the Kuo-toa guards and the Drow caravaneers to panic as the undead horde charged towards the gate. The guards were trying to form up into defensive formations while the caravaneers were trying to rush back into the relative safety of the city. This lack of coordination between the two groups created absolute chaos.

_Just like we wanted._ Gauldoth thought with a smirk even as the rest of the party added to the mayhem.

The buzzing sounds of Drau's rifle firing preluded the two Monstrous Lobsters' heads exploding into clouds of gore as their leader sniped them. Neia meanwhile had used her skill **Rain Arrow** to send a shower of deadly projectiles over the area of the gate, killing dozens and sowing even more confusion.

"Don't just admire the scenery. You're up again." Falgrim said jokingly as he nudged Gaul's shoulder though how he managed to aim that correctly was beyond him considering they were all still invisible.

"I know." Gaul said with a roll of her eyes. " **Explosion!"**

In response to his casting, a large detonation spontaneously occurred at the gate. The blast destroyed it and thus allowed his undead army to rush into the city beyond unopposed.

* * *

Following behind the undead army, the party had entered the city as well and as per the plan split up to cover more ground. It was thus how Neia found herself teamed up with Gaul, protecting the necromancer as he repeatedly used **Undeath Army** on the various corpses they created to raise more undead.

It was a boring affair for the most part. Most of the city's inhabitants had seemingly fled the undead advance or were butchered, thus they faced little to no opposition and Gaul was uninterrupted as he raised what corpses they came across into unlife. That changed however when they began nearing the Drow enclave. It was noticeable by its exotic architecture that contained numerous obsidian-cast spider motifs carved into elegant structures reminiscent of hollowed out giant stalagmites. Structures that stood out greatly in a city dominated by ramshackle buildings covered in various marine embellishments.

"We have company." Neia said as a squad of male Drow Fighters backed up by a female Drow Wizard broke away from the melee against some of Gual's undead around their little quarter and began heading their way.

"I see them. Their fellows are covering them, my minions can't intercept."

"Leave them to me." Neia replied confidently as she raised Ultimate Shooting Star Super.

" **Ray of Enfeeblement!"** The Wizard cast, sending a stream of green mist spraying from the her curled fingers towards Neia.

" **Spellbreaker."** Gaul cast absently, negating the Drow's spell midflight with the white beam of his counterspell.

Even as this was happening, Neia had already loosed her first arrow and activated her skill.

" **Gatling Arrow."** The archer whispered under her breath as she fired arrow after arrow at impossible speeds that were comparable to the rate that an automatic firearm could spit out bullets. All of which, excepting the very first, were in fact constructs conjured from her magical power. As such she had no worries about running out of arrows.

Something she was fairly sure the half dozen Drow warriors charging ahead of the Wizard dearly hoped would happen as her arrows turned them into pincushions. Despite that however they somehow found the will to keep coming. This until one of Gaul's Death Knights and a squad of its Zombie Squires managed to intercept them. Neia immediately stopped her skill, not wanting to risk the reduced accuracy caused by **Gatling Arrow** leading to friendly fire. Instead, she switched to using her normal skill with a bow to support the undead squad with precise shots whenever the opportunity arose.

_Not that the undead need much help._ The archer thought as she put an arrow through one of the Fighters' eyes as the rest were either hacked to pieces by the Death Knight or torn apart by the Zombie Squires.

With that threat eliminated, Neia turned to Gaul to see that he'd entered into a duel with the Drow Wizard. Judging by the traces of destruction that surrounded both their positions, they'd already traded a fair number of spells already. With the Drow currently sending a frigid blast of freezing white air streaking towards Gaul who casually shielded himself his familiar **Shell Barrier**. Even as the power of the Drow's spell, a **Ray of Frost** if Neia was remembering what she'd learned of arcane magic correctly, was still permeating the air around Gaul's barrier, he counterattacked.

" **Chain Dragon Lightning!"** He shouted in annoyance at what the archer could only assume was a needlessly drawn out duel.

_Well, Gaul that's what you get when you decide to play with your food._ The Paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown thought with a shake of her head, even as she absently shot an arrow through the head of a Kuo-toan harpooner who had been trying to take advantage of her apparent distraction to line up a shot.

Glancing away from her latest kill back towards magical duel, she was just in time to see the Lung Dragon shaped lightning bolt that Gaul conjured finish reducing his opponent into a smoking, charred corpse before it slithered through the air to strike a dozen or so other enemy combatants. The holes this single spell created in the line of the Drow forces defending their enclave were large enough for the undead to shatter it with a single decisive push.

"Should we help them finish off the Drow?" Neia asked, as she took out a Drow crossbowman as he reloaded his weapon. "Or move on?"

Gaul shrugged even as he silently cast **Undeath Army** and raised the surrounding corpses into Skeletons. "Either is fine with me."

"Then let's go see if the other need help."

"Lead on then."

* * *

If any group needed help it was not Yorha and Kuro. They were marching through the heart of the Kuo-toa city largely unimpeded. Thanks to ample feeding since its rescue Kuro when he assumed his true form was now a large sized creature, thus expanding to his full size he charged through the enemy ranks using it and his destructiveness to easily roll over any opposition.

He was not invincible however and as he and Yorha discovered, he was vulnerable to magical attacks. She thus took it upon herself to take out the handful of magic casters that were brave enough to attempt to stop them.

Such as the trio of Drow Wizards trying to take Kuro down with **Fiery Bolt** s while guarded by a squad of Drow Fighters.

"Is this really what the Drow call skill?" Yorha commented derisively as she easily dealt with the Wizards' guards and advanced on them herself.

"S-Stay away!" One of the Drow, a young female said. "You two stop her!"

The other two Drows, both males, shot the female a disgusted look but nevertheless obeyed and prepared to send spells Yorha's way.

" **Sword Blitz."** The android swordswoman said as she activated her skill.

Using her skill, she raced forward so fast that to an outsider it looked like she'd teleported from her current position to one just behind the female Drow wizard. Swinging her sword to the side to toss the layer of dark elven blood that covered it, Yorha walked away even as the three Wizards dropped dead behind her.

She was just in time to see Kuro recoil from being shocked by bolts of lightning.

_Who dares hurt him!_ Yorha thought as she surveyed the area for the source of the electric attack whilst simultaneously cutting down a pack of Kuo-toan Fighters that were trying to attack her with a single **Grasscutter Sword**.

The suicidal rush of the googlers did reveal the lightning wielders. As they fell, Yorha caught sight of the half dozen Kuo-toan priests who rather surprisingly for such weak looking creatures were responsible for the lightning shocking Kuro.

They were too far away for a **Sword Blitz** and it was still on cooldown besides, so the swordswoman instead chose to rush towards them the conventional way. With her holofield active, she looked like an evermoving blur that danced across the battlefield as she rapidly closed the distance, slaying anyone or anything that stood in her way. Egged on by Kuro's visible pain as he writhed under the lightning that continued to strike him.

When Yorha _finally_ got close enough, she leapt into the air and landed right in the middle of the cluster of the Kuo-toan priests with her Masamune firmly planted in the head of the googler whose body she'd used to cushion her landing.

" **Sword Bloom!"**

Her skill conjured a host of energy blades in a vaguely flower like arrangement, blades that prompted proceeded to impale the closest enemy. Since she was in the center of the group of googler priests, this meant them. Thus within moments the entire group were reduced to corpses.

"Kuro," Yorha shouted to her pet as she pulled her nodachi out of the corpse. "Eat up and heal."

The Slime's response was immediate as he extended a forest of pseudopods from his body to scoop up the many corpses around him to fuel his regeneration.

_Good boy._ Yorha thought with satisfaction as she looked around for anyone else she could kill to feed her pet.

* * *

Yorha would have limited luck in her search as most of the city's residents had by this point fled to the city center. A circumstance that Drau, Falgrim and Taana were finding very vexing as it forced them to fight their way through the mobs of Kuo-toa trying to hold them at bay as they make their way to the temple at the heart of the city. The temple was a large ziggurat constructed within a shallow pool encircled by stones shaped liked the seats and stairs of a crude amphitheater. Around it, menfish priests were hastily performing some kind of ritual. One complete with the live sacrifices of sapients.

"Whatever they're doing we need to stop them." Drau said as she gunned down dozens of Kuo-toa with her plasma carbine.

"Easier said than done!" Flagrim shouted back as he barely evaded being ensnared by a net thrown by a googler and slammed Doomhammer down on the head of another. "There's too many of them in the way."

" **Arc of Lightning!"** Taana cast, targeting two very distant targets and causing a line of electricity to arc between them, killing both and striking a number standing between them as well. It took out at least two dozen Kuo-toans, either through death or debilitating injury, but it was not nearly enough.

"There goes my last AOE spell." Taana bemoaned as she parried a spear thrust at her with her sword and using skill drilled into her by Falgrim spun closer to her attacker to jab Joltfang into its neck before slitting it in one smooth motion. "It didn't even do much good."

_That girl is getting pretty damned skilled._ Drau noted with some pride as she blasted apart a Kuo-toan trying to backstab the Shadar-kai, before she sidestepped another of the googlers trying to do the same to her who she rewarded with a plasma round to its head. _Though there's still a ways to go._

Turning away from Taana, whose back was now being covered by a squad of the Skeletons that they'd brought with them in their push to the town center, the oldest of Ainz Ooal Gown's avatars saw as Neia and Gaul rushed over to help along with a sizable number of the latter's undead. The ranks of which kept growing as the necromancer raised more and more minions. Not far behind them were Yorha and Kuro, the former of which was rather ironically riding the latter as a mount in an inversion of their usual practice.

_Good. We're all together. Time to make the final push._ Drau thought as mowed down ever more Kuo-toa with her carbine.

As she turned her attention to the temple to plan just how they'd managed said final push however she was horrified to see that the Kuo-toan ritual had reached a climax and the air became filled with an oppressive weight of raw power. Slowly but rapidly growing in speed and size, a whirlpool began to form just in front of the temple. A maelstrom that sucked in the Kuo-toan priests that had conjured it as well as the many other googlers that had been seated around the ziggurat's amphitheater joining their prayers to the ritual. From the heart of this watery vortex rose a massive twenty feet tall nude Human female with an articulated shell covering her shoulders, a crayfish head and crayfish's claws. It was so tall that the newly summoned creature's head was scraping the roof of the cavern.

* * *

"Shit!" Taana cursed, expressing what she was fairly sure was the opinions of everyone in the party at the sight of the thing the Kuo-toa had summoned.

"Is that what I think it is?" Gaul asked, surprisingly calm despite the situation.

"Yeah," Neia said nervously. "That's an avatar of Blibdoolpoolp, the Kuo-toa's goddess."

" **Who dares threaten the children of Blibdoolpoolp!?"** The divine avatar bellowed, causing every member in the party to flinch even as her Kuo-toan subjects cheered.

Cheers that were drowned out by the fickle goddess' next action. " **Die!"**

With that one ominous declaration, Blibdoolpoolp swung one of its claws and conjured a tidal wave out of nowhere. Kuo-toa were able swimmers but even they could not swim against the awesome currents of the tsunami and were swept away by their goddess' wrath. In the face of which, the party stood no chance.

Taana was no exception and was sent hurtling through the water by the powerful wave. She was not entirely helpless though as for the first time since joining the party, she used one of the runes Master Falgrim had stitched into her armor outside of practice.

Activating the **Minor Rune of the Spider** by channeling some of her magic through the section of glove where it'd been stitched in, she burned one of the rune's four charges to gain the ability to cling to surfaces. Once she was sure it was active, she promptly reached for the nearest stalagmite and once secure, began climbing out of the water.

_I hope that my_ _ **Mage Armor**_ _spell_ _and the_ _ **Minor Runes of Defense**_ _Master Falgrim put on my clothing and armor holds up. Really wishing I could use the_ _ **Stone Body**_ _or_ _ **Iron Body**_ _spells though._

Unfortunately for Taana, she had not been able to obtain the arcane material component needed for either transmutation spells. They along with **Haste** and **Mage Armor** were among the handful of spells in the Tome of Lightning Magic not linked directly to the electric element. Thankfully, her **Mage Armor** and **Minor Runes of Defense** proven enough even though she was struck by various objects throughout her climb, allowing Taana to make it above the waterline of the flood after only suffering a few bruisers.

Quickly surveying her surroundings, she sought out her family amid the devastation of the flooded Kuo-toa city. Much to her relief they were all okay.

Yorha, Kuro and Drau had managed to outrun the wave to make it to the high ground offered by a rocky outcropping. Neia and Gaul had weathered the wave inside a barrier created by his **Shell Barrier** spell. And last but definitely not least, Master Falgrim had taken the same route that Taana had and used the **Minor Rune of the Spider** to grab hold of something, in his case it was a particularly well built tower, and climb out of the water.

"Hit her!" Drau shouted. "Hit her avatar with everything we have!"

" **You think that'll be enough, you insignificant fools?"** Blibdoolpoolp's avatar taunted. " **But very well. I'm feeling generous. Try and feel despair when you discover how powerless you truly are!"**

_We'll show you powerless!_ Taana thought angrily as she cast the most powerful of her remaining prepared spells. " **Ball Lightning!"**

Her balls of lightning joined the barrage of attacks sent hurtling towards Blibdoolpoolp's avatar by all the ranged capable members of the party.

" **Monster Slaying Arrow."** Neia said shooting an arrow charged with mystical energy.

" **Triplet Maximize Magic: Reality Slash."** Gaul cast, sending three tears in reality itself screaming towards the avatar.

" **Beast Cutter**." Yorha shouted as she slashed her sword and sent an energy blade flying towards their enemy.

Drau meanwhile fired shot after shot, as quickly as she could, at the avatar's head.

Distantly, Taana heard Master Falgrim bemoan his inability to help. She was too distracted by her mounting horror as one by one her family's attacks failed to cause any damage to comfort him. She'd expected her spell to be useless. She knew how weak she was compared to the others. But she hadn't expected Blibdoolpoolp to completely ignore the armor piercing shots from Drau's rifle or Gual's powerful spell or Yorha and Neia's deadly skills. Yet she did.

" _ **That**_ **is the best you can do? It barely tickled."** The monstrous divine avatar said with a chuckle. " **Let me show you what a real attack feels like."**

With this Blibdoolpoolp waved one of its claws again, conjuring another tidal wave. One even bigger than the last. Waving her other claw, the divine avatar sent the wave hurtling towards them.

_We're doomed!_ Taana lamented as she saw her watery doom coming towards her at high speed.

"No! Not on my watch!" Drau screamed suddenly as she leapt into the air and was enshrouded in a brilliant white light.

When the light faded, it revealed that their leader had transformed into a Dragon with a serpentine body, a pair of large wings and covered in scales that radiated a sky blue like color except for her abdomen region which was a brillant white. She was so huge, even bigger than Blibdoolpoolp's avatar, that she barely fit inside the cavern.

Thus despite having originally been standing hundreds of feet from the incoming wave, post-transformation it was seconds from hitting Drau. Seconds were more than enough however and she unleashed a chilling breath weapon that froze the entire wave turning it into a single massive ice sculpture. Even as the cold continued to spread and froze the water flooding the city.

" **Y-You are- His- Ainz Ooal Gown's-"** Blibdoolpoolp muttered as she recoiled from Drau's draconic form in visible shock.

" **Yes, we are his champions."** Drau replied, flapping her wings once to shatter the wall of ice she'd created to provide a clearer view of Blibdoolpoolp.

" **My deepest apologies then,"** Blibdoolpoolp said with an apologetic bow. " **I did not know. I will take my followers and leave now. Farewell!"**

Before anyone could say or do anything, the avatar along with any Kuo-toa, dead or alive, in sight vanished.

"Well, that happened." Drau noted as with another burst of light, she returned to the form they were all familiar, scratching her head in confusion.

_Is that all you can say Drau!? You just transformed into a Dragon and scared away a god's avatar!_

Taana exchanged a nervous look with Master Falgrim. What had happened was just insane. Getting a goddess to flee and even apologize while doing so just for fighting another god's champions!? Just what kind of god was Ainz Ooal Gown to inspire such terrified respect from his fellow deities?

They wouldn't get answer hanging to the side of a stalagmite, so she climbed down to the frozen ground thankful that the **Minor Rune of Enduring** worked into her clothes kept her from suffering from the supernatural chill that now permeated the area.

_My runes sure are proving useful today. Then again today is probably the most intense fight we've had so far._

Not even her fight against the Illithid Psion when that scout party had ambushed them in the ruined Drow outpost had she been in as much danger. It was only now that she was in extreme danger that she had need of them.

"Drau are you actually a Dragon?" Taana asked warily as she and Master Falgrim made it over to their leader.

It was an important question indeed. Dragons on Laerakond were notorious for their evil nature, especially the chromatic dragons which Drau's draconic form greatly resembled.

"Yes," Drau admitted. "Thanks to the YGGDRASIL system I managed to evolve into a Dragon. But I'm not any Dragon you and Falgrim would be familiar with."

"What's that mean exactly?" Master Falgrim asked warily.

"Just what I said. I'm a Felmidian dragon." The Dragon explained. "We don't follow the same rules as those you'd find here on Toril."

"Mind explaining the differences."

"Sure. But after we mop up the place alright?" Drau said, gesturing to the largely empty city. "Blibdoolpoolp took her Kuo-toa with her but I'm thinking there's still plenty of enemies around. Even after the flooding. If we survived, we have to assume at least some of our enemies did too."

"And surviving slaves to set free." Neia added as she and the others made their way over.

"Why don't we go handle the mop up." Yorha suggested, gesturing at Neia, Gaul, Kuro and herself. "Then Drau can explain herself."

Drau shot the android a betrayed look but didn't countermand her suggestion.

"Fine," she said with a defeated sigh. "Let's do things your way."

Gaul chuckled at the exchange as Yorha led them off into the city to start mopping it up.

"Now as I was saying-"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> I finally get to show off Falgrim (and a much lesser extent Taana's as well) skills with runes. I've been struggling the last few chapters thinking of how to do it but never came up with a good one mainly because any effect the runes Falgrim can cause are outdone by spells or skills the other members of the party can pull off. Thankfully, I came up with a solution to that problem. Was it alright? Do let me know.
> 
> As for why Blibdoolpoolp only recognized that she was facing avatars of Ainz Ooal Gown when Drau transformed into one of her draconic forms, please do keep in mind that Drau and her siblings are meant to not be recognizable. They are meant to fit in and let him explore the world. If they advertise what they truly were to everyone who can tell, then the experience would be marred to a considerable degree. However, certain displays of power on their part, like Drau assuming a draconic form, makes it impossible to hide the connection.
> 
> You might be asking why Blibdoolpoolp fled so quickly after learning the truth. Just go reread what Ainz has accomplished so far since he arrived in Realmspace. No one, not even gods, want to upset someone capable of such feats.
> 
> Well that's it for me today, so till next time abschied!


	14. Adventuring with Avatars 7: Tomb Raiding

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 7: Tomb Raiding**

**Beta:**

* * *

"That isn't on the map." Drau observed as the party warily advanced towards a large glass dome sitting in the middle of a particularly large cavern in the Underdark. It was seated right in the path they were taking to a nearby Drow city that was their next destination.

"At a glance at the stonework in its foundations, I'd guess that it's new. Very new." Falgrim gave his expert opinion as a Dwarf.

"How new?" Yorha asked warily. "Can you tell?"

"My guess? A few months tops."

The party exchanged looks.

"It seems a little ill defended." Neia commented. "No defensive walls or guards. Gaul, are you sensing any magical protections?"

"Some," Gaul acknowledged. "But they seem muted. They alone shouldn't be enough to keep it safe."

"Then maybe its inhabitants are scary enough to keep others away?" Taana suggested with a shrug that showed even she did not truly believe what she was saying.

"That young Miss Zyfyn is the right of it." A cultured voice said suddenly from the party's right, causing the whole group to jump into a defensive formation.

Standing before them where they had been empty space just moments before was a muscular humanoid creature covered in black hardened scales with large bat-like wings sprouting from its back alongside long twisted horns that culminated in a particularly impressive pair of horns on its head. Its face was covered with scales, making it look like a twisted hybrid of men and insect that was made more intimidating by the mouth filled with sharp fangs. It was further armed with sword like claws and a whip-like tail. All of which was surrounded by a dark malevolent aura that radiated from its body.

"I mean you no harm, Chosen of the Supreme One." The creature said with an oddly gentlemanly bow considering its appearance. "I am Gorzoth, servant of Lord Demiurge, god of cunning and strategy. I am in charge of the Menagerie just ahead. Sensing your approach, I merely wished to bid you all welcome."

_Demiurge? Isn't that the name of one of the lesser Felmidian gods?_ Falgrim thought as he tried to recall everything he'd learned about the pantheon that the majority of his partymates were devoted to and which Neia had taken every opportunity to expound upon.

"You're Lord Demiurge's servant?" Neia asked warily. "Do you have any proof?"

"Of course, Lady Neia." The monster said with an understanding nod. "I bear his mark. As a Paladin of the Supreme One, you can test its authenticity no?"

Neia looked lost for a moment before her eyes clouded over for a moment and she nodded confidently.

_Did she just get a divine revelation?_

"Show me that mark." The Paladin said firmly.

Falling to one knee, Gorzoth lowered his head so his forehead to eye level with Neia. At first Falgrim saw nothing there but the creature's black scales but slowly but surely a strange design glowing in a disturbing blood red light slowly appeared atop the scales. The Dwarf found himself unable to truly focus on the design for long, his eyes naturally slipping off it if he didn't focus but he made out what looked like a pair of jewels and a set of glasses. He didn't catch any more than that before Neia nodded in satisfaction and Gorzoth hid his mark once more.

"I can confirm it." Their resident Paladin said with a confident nod. "He's telling the truth."

Everyone relaxed at that.

"That's good to hear." Drau said, as she stowed her sniper rifle and stepped forward. "It's nice to meet you Gorzoth."

"The pleasure, Lady Drau, is all mine. Please follow this humble Devil. I can offer you some refreshments inside my Menagerie."

"You're a Devil?" Taana asked, worriedly.

Falgrim shared the feeling. Dealing with fiends of any type, Devil or Demon, was always risky.

"I am an Abyssal Lord. Technically that makes me a Demon. However, by the standards of Realmspace, the Demons of Felmid are best described as Devils thus we have adapted and changed our nomenclature."

_Not sure how that helps anything._

Falgrim chanced a glance at his partymates, excepting Taana of course, and was unsurprised that they weren't fazed by the revelation that their host was a fiend. If anything they seemed even more reassured. Perhaps sensing his and Taana's confusion, Yorha pulled the three of them to the back of the group.

"Lord Demiurge is a Devil." Yorha explained as they walked the remaining distance to the Menagerie. "So Gorzoth being one himself supports him being his servant."

"Even then!" Falgrim hissed. "Is it safe to trust any fiend?"

"If he is a servant of one of our gods then yes." Yorha replied with a shrug as they reached the doors of the large glass dome.

Falgrim was still uncertain but nodded. He'd just have to have faith that his friends' gods weren't out to get them killed. They'd been nothing but helpful so far, but you never knew with gods. Especially ones that used fiends as servants.

"Welcome, Chosen of the Supreme One." Gorzoth said as he ushered the party inside. "Welcome to my Menagerie where on the orders of Lord Demiurge I collect specimens of the local flora and fauna and study them for utility to Nazarick. Would you like a tour?"

Just a quick glance around the place after stepping foot inside told Falgrim more than enough. As far as the eye could see were shelves full of specimen jars filled with all kinds of Underdark flora and fauna, ranging from simple fungi to small insects to Hook Horrors. There were even a number of specimens of Drow, Myconid and other sapient races here and there. In between the shelves were glass walled rooms that looked to be labs of some kind where the collected specimens were being studied by strange looking Warforged. In fact, except for Gorzoth himself, the whole place seemed to be run entirely by the constructs.

"What's with those Warforged?" Taana asked before Falgrim could do so himself. "Master and I met a couple before and they didn't look so-"

"Twisted?" Gorzoth suggested, as he led the party deeper and deeper into the Menagerie.

Falgrim couldn't think of a better word. If normal Warforged were simulacrums of humanoids, these twisted versions were more akin to Devils like Gorzoth himself with spikes jutting out of their bodies and wings of twisted skeletal metal growing from their shoulders. A few even had feet that looked cloven and sported tails. And all of them emitted an aura of necrotic energy.

"These Twisted Warforged are my Lord's creations." Gorzoth explained proudly. "After _studying_ several samples, my Lord cracked the code on how to produce Warforged or more precisely duplicate the process of producing souls that's part of their construction and has started to implant them into automatons of his own manufacture."

Yorha seemed to perk up at this for some reason and turned to look at the Devil with an eager look.

"Does this mean that it is possible for my fellow automatons of Felmid to become ensouled like me?"

"Not exactly like you, Lady Yorha." Gorzoth clarified. "Your ensoulment was a miracle of the Supreme One himself, but we _are_ ensouling the majority of automatons of Felmid. This greatly enhances the automatons who previously only occasionally developed souls on their own through irreplicable circumstances or miracles from the gods."

Yorha deflated a little at this but nodded.

_Guess, she was hoping she wasn't one of a kind anymore._ Falgrim thought as he reached over and gave the swordswoman's arm a reassuring squeeze even as the others in the party made other similar gestures. The white haired beauty offered all of them a grateful smile.

"Ah, here we are." Gorzoth said as they reached a small manor house that wouldn't have been out of place in Dusklan incongruously sited at the very heart of the glass dome of the Menagerie. "This is my personal residence and our administrative building. There are guest rooms inside that I've prepared for you. Now, if you'll follow-"

"Actually, Gorzoth," Drau cut the Devil off as he was about to lead them into the house. "As grateful as we are for you providing us with room and board, we feel uneasy about accepting it without doing anything in return."

"Justice demands we do something for you." Neia agreed.

"Never make an open-ended deal with a Devil." Gaul chimed in more cynically.

_Oh thank the gods! So they were worried about making a deal with this Devil too! I was getting worried._ Falgrim thought as he sighed in relief.

"That is wise," Gorzoth allowed, sounding disappointed. "But what would you offer me, Chosen of the Supreme One? I have no need of coin or treasure."

"You collect specimens here don't you?" Yorha said, nodding towards the many jars of such that surrounded them. "Perhaps we can help you collect something?"

"That idea has merit." The Devil said as he eyed Kuro but a stern glare from everyone in the party had him raising his hands in defeat. "But if not that intriguing Slime-"

"Kuro is off limits." Drau hissed as she stepped in front of Yorha blocking the devil's view of Kuro as he rode on the automaton's shoulders. "Pick something else."

The devil hummed in thought for a long moment before finally making up his mind.

"Well, my collection teams have been having trouble lately with the acquisition of a little magical trinket, a particular gem called the Gem of Dreams, that my research indicates is located in a nearby tomb."

"What's so special about this Gem and why have your teams been having trouble with this mission?"

_Good questions._ Falgrim noted. _Drau is a good leader._

The Dwarf had realized that quickly enough. It was a big reason why he had never challenged her for leadership of their party. But it was hard at times. He was the veteran adventurer in the party and his pride rankled at having to defer to someone who was more inexperienced than he was. That was why he had to keep reminding himself that leaving the Dragon in charge was the right thing to do because she _was_ a good leader.

"The Gem is capable of granting its wielder the power of a Wish spell once every year." Gorzoth explained, causing Falgrim to suck in a breath in surprise.

Whilst not quite the most powerful magical artifact ever, a Wish spell was no joke and anything capable of it, even only once a year, was not to be trifled with. He could totally understand why the gods of Nazarick would want to acquire and study such an artifact.

"As for what's been causing my teams so much grief," the devil continued. "It's the tomb's defenders. Chief among them according to our research, though my men have never made it far enough to face her, is a Gynosphinx."

Falgrim winced. Gynosphinxes were no laughing matter. He could see why the Devil's teams were failing. To his party though… While a challenge, it wasn't like they hadn't faced worse. Thus as Drau surveyed everyone for their opinion, the Runesmith did not hesitate to nod his agreement.

Having secured the same from everyone else, Drau turned back to Gorzoth.

"We'll get the Gem for you. In exchange you'll provide us with room and board for our stay here."

"If you acquire the Gem for me, Lady Drau, I will put my Menagerie at the full disposal of your party whenever you are in the area."

Drau looked at the devil suspiciously and he elaborated. "Do not forget, my lady, the favor among our gods and my peers from aiding your party. That alone was enough for me to open my domain to you thus recovering the Gem for me deserves something more. Substantially more."

_Yet, you didn't once object when we offered to do a job for you. Typical sneaky Devil._

"I see." Drau said with a nod. "The do we have a deal?"

"Indeed, my lady. We have a deal."

* * *

"Is this for real?" Drau asked as the whole party stood in shock in front of an entrance of a side cavern just off the path to the Gynosphinx's tomb which was full of peacefully mating Flail Snails. There were dozens, possibly hundreds, of the large snails with their colorful scintillating shells and club like tentacles gathered around the small stream that flowed through the center of the cave.

"I'm seeing it too." Yorha said helpfully, confirming that the sight wasn't a hallucination.

"Is this normal?" Neia asked Taana.

"No. You don't usually find more than one of them at a time. Though considering _what_ they're doing, they probably got together because it's mating season."

"Which presents us with an opportunity we would be foolish to pass up." Gaul said as he made to move into the cavern, only to be stopped by Drau grabbing his armored arm.

"What are you talking about?"

"The shells of Flail Snails have powerful anti-magic properties. Imagine all of us equipped in armor made from it." Gaul said, shaking Drau's arm off and gesturing to the massive shell of a nearby snail.

"You're suggesting we kill them and harvest their shells?" Drau asked, repulsed by the idea.

"Yes," Gaul said, crossing his arms in exasperation.

"Gaul, these snails are peaceful. Look!" Drau said pointing to a snail waving its flail like tentacles at them in what seemed both welcome and warning. "They don't even mind us being here as they _mate_ , so long as we're not hostile. How can you even consider hurting such harmless creatures?"

"Because it will better equip us?" Gaul insisted.

"He's right that having Flail Snail armor will help us." Falgrim chimed in. "I wouldn't mind some myself."

"It's not worth killing harmless creatures." Drau insisted.

Falgrim backed down but Gauldoth defiantly opened a portal with a **Gate** spell and began calling forth his undead army. It had suffered substantial losses in the flood that Blibdoolpoolp's avatar had used to attempt to drown them in their recent fight in the Kuo-toan city but those losses were more than made up for by the raising of the dead they'd collected in the mop up of the battle. It would be a challenge to face them all, but Drau knew she could manage. There was no way she'd allow Gaul to do what he intended.

"Wait!" Yorha said, before Drau could do anything else.

"Will you stand in my way too?" Gaul asked, threateningly as the rest of the party shifted uneasily as they tried to decide who to stand with.

"Don't be stupid, Gaul. This isn't a binary decision. Look!" The swordswoman said pointing at the ground of the cavern and a number of chipped bits of shell that littered the floor of the small cavern. With the cavern as cramped with Snails as it was, the occasional collision with each other and the rock was inevitable thus leading to a healthy amount of chipped shell pieces collecting on the cave floor. "You don't need to kill the Snails to get your armor."

_Good job spotting that, Yorha!_

"There's hardly enough there to make a single set of armor. Much less for the whole party."

"I think we can make do without any if it comes to it." Drau said dryly, looking over everyone to see if they disagreed and found no one did. "So if it's just enough for you then so be it."

_Please accept the compromise. I_ really _don't want to fight you._

Gaul pondered this for a moment before nodding.

"Very well," he turned to his undead army and mentally ordered a small squad of skeletons into the Flail Snail cave. "I hope you all don't regret this."

"We won't," Neia confirmed. "Better to not have Spellguard armor than to fight among ourselves over something like this."

Gaul huffed in annoyance at being called out for almost splitting the party apart and looked away, ostensibly to supervise his Skeletons as they worked and to dismiss the rest of his minions back to Felmid. Though Drau was fairly certain there was an element of not wanting to look at the rest of the party after making such an embarrassing move involved in it too.

"Uh, since we'll have to wait for those Skeletons to get done collecting the shell pieces, why don't we set up camp here for the day?" Taana suggested.

"Good idea, Taana." Drau said, offering the Shadar-kai a grin. "Let's do that."

* * *

The next morning and three large sacks of Flail Snail pieces sent to Felmid to be worked into armor later, the party set off for the Gynosphinx's lair once more. The trip was proving pretty uneventful, so Neia decided to spend the time preaching about her god to a curious Taana. Falgrim was listening too but Neia sensed that unlike his apprentice who was genuinely open to their faith, his interest had more to do with learning about the kind of faith his comrades followed than anything else.

"And so Lord Ainz defeated Atropus and gained the Undead Promordial's power for his own." Neia said as she finished up the story of the Supreme One's battle against the World Born Dead.

"And that's where you'll have end it today, Neia." Drau said kindly from near the head of their little formation. "We've arrived."

Looking over to where their leader was pointing, Neia could see a pair of stone statues that looked like a pair of knights on the other side of an ornate edifice carved into the rock of the Underdark a short distance away.

"Those statues. Do you think they are what I think they are?"

"Only one way to find out Drau," Neia said as she raised Ultimate Shooting Star Super meaningfully.

"Agreed." The Dragon said as she readied her sniper rifle. "Everyone, get ready just in case we're right."

"On it." Falgrim said cheerfully as he jogged over to the front of the party to join Yorha, his Doomhammer ready. "Ready when you are."

"Gaul, Taana?"

"I'm ready." Gaul drawled and the Shadar-kai nodded, her hands raised and ready to sling her spells.

"Neia, together?" Drau asked.

"Sure. I'll take the one on the right."

"Then the left one is mine. Shoot!"

At Drau's prompting Neia let loose the arrow she'd already been pulling back and sent it flying with **Explosive Arrow** skill. If it was just a normal statue, it would blast the thing apart. If it was not… Then it should do a healthy amount of damage to whatever it was and serve as an effective opening move.

Drau's host chipped a chunk off the left statue's head off whilst Neia's skill enhanced arrow blew off the whole right shoulder of her target. More importantly, the attacks caused both statues to come to life and began charging towards them.

"Stone Golems." Drau said with a resigned sigh. "I was hoping I was wrong. Neia, your skills are best suited for this considering their magic resistance. Please do the honours."

"Gladly. **Explosive Arrow!** " Neia shouted as she sent another arrow at the more wounded of the two Golems, reducing it to rubble and hastily pulling another arrow from her quiver. She was still nocking it when the other Golem made it to their frontliners but she wasn't worried. Yorha and Falgrim could take care of themselves.

Case in point, Falgrim easily parried the much larger Golem's overhead cleave with a swing of Doomhammer. This left its guard open and Yorha blurred forward, her holofield leaving afterimages in her wake as she cut at its legs with her **Stonecutter Blade** skill and severing the limbs at the knees. This caused the Golem to topple forward but a quick shot to its torso from Drau's sniper rifle applied just enough force to have it fall on its back instead.

It was on its way down that Neia's third **Explosive Arrow** found its mark in its upper chest, hitting it with enough force to shatter its head and upper torso whilst slamming it into the ground with so much force that the impact alone caused the rest of the Golem's body to shatter into pieces.

"That was surprisingly easy." Yorha observed as she walked through the cloud of dust the Golem's demise had thrown up. "Surely, a pair of Golems weren't enough to stop Gorzoth's teams."

"Two Golems probably not, but a dozen?" Falgrim asked, pointing at what in what looked like unoccupied niches on either side of the entrance to the tomb. Including those which had contained the two Golems they'd just destroyed, there were indeed a dozen of them.

"If there were more of these things," Neia said gesturing to the nearest pile of Golem remains where Taana was searching it for some reason. "Then where is the remains of the others?"

"Someone cleaned the remains up." Gaul said eyeing their surroundings curiously. "The Gynosphinx? Or Gorzoth's men?"

"Probably both." Falgrim said with a shrug. "The Gynosphinx so as to not leave a telltale clue as to what the surviving Golems were and-"

"Gorzoth's men because they'd want samples from a Stone Golem." Drau finished for him. "The question is why he didn't tell us about them."

"He didn't see them as posing a threat to us." Yorha reasoned. "If we were unafraid of a Gynosphinx, why would we be worried about a few Stone Golems?"

"You're probably right." Drau acknowledged, before turning to Taana who was comparing two slivers of rock that she'd pried from the biggest remaining intact piece of the Stone Golem's remains. "Taana, do I want to know?"

"It's for a spell."

"Really?" Drau blinked, disbelievingly.

"I think I've heard of it." Neia chimed in supportively. " **Stone Body** , right?"

The Shadar-kai nodded enthusiastically

"Well, if you're done?" Tanna nodded. "Then let's get moving. The Gynopshinx probably already knows we're coming. We weren't subtle in taking out the golems. Let's not give it anymore time to prepare, shall we?"

* * *

Despite Drau's words after they defeated the golems, progress through the tomb itself was slow.

"Someone in the party should pick up some ranger skills," Gaul complained as he sent another of his disposable Skeletons ahead to prematurely trigger any traps in the passage they were walking down.

"We don't really need it." Drau reminded him. "Between my suit's sensors and Falgrim's Stonecutting racial ability, we can detect any traps simply enough."

"Detect yes, but what about disabling?" Gaul countered as the Skeleton he'd summoned from Felmid triggered the set of spikes built into the walls of the corridor ahead and was impaled.

"I'll take it under consideration." Drau allowed, even as she blasted away at the spikes before they could recede into the walls with her plasma carbine. "This is a _very_ inefficient way of handling traps."

"Exactly." Gaul agreed.

"Save it Gaul," Neia said elbowing him lightly. "She already agreed to consider it. No need to push any harder."

The necromancer disagreed but relented, choosing to defer to the Paladin's advice. As such they walked through the cleared corridor in a tense silence, waiting to see if they were any traps that the skeleton hadn't triggered. Thankfully, there were none and they made it unmolested into a fairly large chamber with several paths radiating out from it. More pressingly though was the Iron Golem shaped like an Ogre that turned to face them the moment they stepped into the room and the cone of toxic looking gas it breathed towards the party.

" **Shell Barrier!"** Gaul cast quickly, raising a domed barrier that protected the party from the Golem's poison breath. "Neia finish this thing already!"

"On it! **Explosive Ar-** "

"No! Use something else! It heals from absorbing fire!" Taana shouted as she grabbed Neia's arm before she could loose her arrow.

"Gotcha! Thanks for the heads up, Taana." Neia said as she swapped skills, even as the Golem began battering away at Gaul's barrier with the giant maul it used as a weapon.

_Hurry up already!_ The necromancer griped to himself. _Do you think this barrier will hold forever._

Yorha, with her automaton immunity to poison, was about to rush out but Drau called to her. "Don't risk it. Leave it to Neia."

The others all looked like they itched to do something too but were holding themselves back due to the thick cloud of poisonous gas that still swirled around them from the Golem's opening attack. Only Drau was able to do anything and take potshots with her sniper rifle at the thing, blasting small but not crippling holes through its body.

"This is a little less damaging but **Monster Slaying Arrow!** "

The glowing arrow struck the Golem in the chest and while it did not explode in a fireball like one of her **Explosive Arrow** s would have done, it did burst like a nova when it made contact and cut off the arm using to hold its weapon. Unbalanced, the Golem staggered back and was easy prey to the three more similar arrows that followed and took it down.

"And done! Now for the poison gas. **Widen Magic: Purify.** "

At Neia's spell, the poison gas was transmuted into water and fell down onto the chamber floor in great sheets which pooled into a deep puddle.

_Thank goodness we're still inside my barrier or we'd be soaked._

"Good job, Neia." Drau said giving the Paladin a thumbs up.

"Just playing my part, leader." The archer said bashfully as they advanced once more.

Taana was eyeing the fresh set of Golem remains contemplatively for a moment, before shaking her head. _I wonder what she's thinking. No matter. I'll have plenty of time to dig it out of her later._

* * *

After a break for lunch and a few more minor monsters, mostly just the odd slime or giant insects or rat, and traps, the party finally made it to the central burial chamber where the Gynosphinx they'd been told guarded the place sat expectantly awaiting their arrival. It was a majestic creature with a leonine body, great feathery wings, the upper body of a female humanoid and the face with features that were an attractive mix of humanoid and feline that was accentuated by an elaborate, jeweled headdress. Most noticeable however were the pair of shapely humanoid breasts that the Sphinx just left exposed for all to see.

_Don't they, umm, get in the way?_ Was the shocked thought that consumed Taana's mind at the sight.

"I dunno why you'll be distracted by a pair of breasts," Master Falgrim whispered as he nudged her, smothering a chuckle. "But snap out of it and get your head in the game."

"Eep!" Tanaa squeaked. "Right, um, sorry."

"Noble Sphinx," Drau was saying as she took a wary step towards the creature. "We have-"

"I know why you come." The Sphinx spat. "You have come to rob the treasures I guard. So save your breath, thief, and be gone. **Banishment!** "

" **Spellbreaker!"** Gaul shouted just in time, cancelling the Sphinx's spell. He wasn't done yet however and quickly followed up with another spell. " **Spell Silence!"**

A derivative spell from the typical **Silence** spell available to the YGGDRASIL system, the spell Gaul had chosen had temporarily stolen the Sphinx's ability to use magic.

"W-What manner of spell is this?" The Sphinx reeled back in shock as it suddenly found itself deprived of one of its greatest strengths.

It didn't have long to ponder the matter though as Yorha and Falgrim charged forward to engage. Deciding it didn't want to risk a fight with the frontliners, the creature used its feline grace to leap directly over them and towards Neia in their mid row, its claws extended to swipe at her. Fortunately, Drau quickly interposed herself between them and fired off a burst from her carbine. Hissing in pain, the Sphinx beat her wings hard and properly took flight and changing targets.

"Taana, watch out!" Master Falgrim warned even as the Shadar-kai unleashed a **Lightning Bolt** directly into the face of the Gynopshinx, that it ignored with a wince of pain, as it practically landed on her. It would have likely crashed her from its weight alone, not to mention tearing her apart as it tried to maul her with its vicious claws. Not even her **Mage Armor** or the **Minor Rune of Defense** worked into her clothes and armor were proving much use as seen by how the monster's claws easily cut through them all. Thankfully, though she'd taken their lunch break to prepare the spell she'd finally gotten to try out now that she'd had a shard of a Stone Golem to use as a catalyst. **Stone Body** had transmuted her body into living stone and was probably the only thing keeping him alive.

"Get off her!" Master Falgrim roared as he slammed Doomhammer so hard into the Sphinx's side that the large monster was knocked off Taana completely. "Taana, you alright?"

"Yeah." The Shadar-kai said as she accepted her Master's hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet even as she let her body return to normal. "Thanks for the save."

"Not a problem, lass."

"Taana, let me look at you." Neia said, as she ran over. "Are you injured?"

"No, my spell kept me safe." Taana reassured the healer. "How's the fight?"

"See for yourself." Master said, gesturing to the Sphinx with Doomhammer.

It had been cornered against a far wall. With Kuro in his full size looming over her and advancing menacingly. Judging by the smoking stumps of where her front claws had been, the Sphinx had already learned the futility of attempting to fight the Blacklight Slime in melee. Sadly for it, Gaul was determined to deprive it of its magic as evidenced by how he renewed his **Spell Silence** curse on the creature. Escape was impossible too, as Drau and Yorha stood waiting to cut off any attempt it might make to get past Kuro. It might have flown but the Slime's current form was so massive that it could just extend a tentacle or two and pluck the Sphinx from the sky if it tried.

"Isn't that, um, a little overkill?"

"Not at all," Neia said throwing a blanket over the Shadar-kai's shoulders. "They though she hurt you badly and are angry. This is just them venting that anger. It's totally understandable."

"Right. Um, what's with the blanket?"

"To cover yourself, lass." Master Falgrim said, not once taking his eyes off the one sided fight which now saw Kuro grabbing the Sphinx by a set of long tentacles and slamming it repeatedly against the walls, floor and ceiling of the chamber even as his naturally corrosive body ate through its flesh. The creature's screams were terrible to hear, but Taana had plenty of experience with the agonized cries of their enemies by now and ignored it easily enough. Instead, she looked down and realized just what a mess the Sphinx's mauling had done to her clothes. She wasn't exactly flashing anyone, but with her pants all but falling off, her blouse reduced to tatters, and her undergarments in only slightly better shape, she looked a mess.

"Eep. Thanks Neia." Taana said as she hurriedly pulled the blanket tightly closed. "Uh, should we help?"

"Nah, I don't think so. Like I said, let them vent. Besides Kuro was almost done."

As is to prove the point, the Slime smashed the screaming Sphinx into the ground one last time. This time with such force that it visibly broke the abused creature's spine. Apparently deciding that the poor thing had been tormented enough, Kuro pulled the battered remains of the once proud monster into its body to be digested. That it was still alive and screaming as he did so was neither here nor there.

The moment the deed was done, the rest of the party rushed over to check on Taana. Even Kuro carefully extended a pseudopod to have a look.

"I'm fine. I promise." Taana reassured their anxious inquiries. "Just go get the Gem alright. And loot the place. I need to get changed. The damned bird woman tore up my clothes."

"If you're sure-"

"I'm sure, Drau. So get going already."

The Dragon looked hesitant but nodded and herded the others away to get started looting the tomb. Heaving a sigh of relief, Taana sneaked off to behind a pillar for some privacy and quickly pulled out a fresh set of clothes from her pack before hastily changing into it. She wanted to miss as little of the looting as possible! Who knew what goodies she'd find in there!

* * *

"Here you go, Gorzoth." Drau said as she represented the prize to the Devil in his Menagerie a couple days later. "The Gem of Dreams as you requested."

The Devil took the unassuming rainbow colored opal and examined it closely for a moment and used an Item appraisal skill that Yorha had seen some of Felmid's denizens used in the past on it before nodding in satisfaction.

"Well done, Chosen of the Supreme One. I expected nothing less, but well done nonetheless."

"You honor us." Drau said with a grin. "After all, you're not contesting the other loot we took from the tomb."

_Why mention that?_ Yorha thought to herself, as she tilted her head in confusion.

"They are being handed over to Nazarick in exchange for credits for your supplies are they not? Or you have taken to use for yourselves." Gorzoth said looking at the new Dragon leather armor that Taana was wearing to replace the set of gear the Sphinx had wrecked. After the Gem itself, it was the most useful find they'd made in the tomb though almost everyone had gotten a nice upgrade to their equipment here or there. Sadly Yorha was the exception though that had more to do with being satisfied with what she had than anything else.

Drau nodded in agreement with the Devil and he continued.

"Then why would I quibble over it? Anything useful to our research from that hoard will reach Nazarick anyways. Am I not a Lord of Greed or Pride. I do not feel the need to be the one to discover their secrets, if any, first. So long as Nazarick learns of them as soon as possible I am satisfied."

"You are truly a loyal servant of the Supreme One."

_Did Drau set that up just to butter him up? Surely not. Then again I wouldn't put it past her._

"I try." Gorzoth said with a proud grin. "But enough formalities. I'm sure you're all tired after your adventure. Please follow my servants. They'll show you to your rooms."

Yorha joined the rest of the party in turning to leave, following after a pair of feminine looking Twisted Warforged in maid outfits but were stopped when Gorzoth called after her,

"Lady Yorha, please stay a moment."

The others stopped too and turned to Yorha. She waved them along. She had a fair idea what the Devil wanted and she was confident she could handle it come what may.

"Tell me, Lady Yorha, have you noticed anything strange lately about your pet?"

Yorha rankled a little that the Devil refused to call Kuro by his name, even if the Slime did not and continued happily pretending to be an inanimate scarf around her neck without the slightest hint of being aware of the conversation. Which was strange in itself. Usually, he was attentive to everything spoken around him.

_Maybe he's still digesting that Sphinx._ Yorha reasoned and dismissed the previous thought.

"Besides its ability to consume almost anything other than myself?"

"I meant in its behavior."

"Then no." Yorha said with a frown. "Why are you asking?"

"Just curious." Gorzoth replied with an enigmatic smile. "He simply radiates a presence that doesn't suit a simple Slime."

"What does that mean?" Yorha asked, eyeing Kuro worriedly.

"I honestly do not know. All I have are suspicions." Gorzoth shrugged. "Suspicions that I'll keep to myself for now. Only time will tell if I'm right, I suppose. Till then, carry on as per usual."

With that rather cryptic statement, the Devil walked away leaving Yorha to her own devices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> So this is my attempt at having the party do a conventional dungeon dive. As might be expected, they didn't find it all that interesting. Considering what they do normally is that really a surprise? I do hope it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.
> 
> Till next time, senebty!


	15. Adventuring with Avatars 8: Loss

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 8: Loss**

**Beta:**

* * *

"You'd think after dealing with Uchuulon, handling regular Chuul wouldn't be so much of a problem." Falgrim griped as he smashed the head of the nearest of the lobster like monsters that had been reaching towards him with its pincers and its mass of paralysis-causing tentacles around its mouth.

The party had been crossing one of the many underground rivers that crisscrossed the Underdark, something they had done hundreds of times before, when suddenly they'd been ambushed by a pack of Chuul that had been hiding in the depths. With half of them in the water already and thus in their opponents' favored domain, they were fighting at a major disadvantage and thus were surprisingly hard pressed.

"At least they aren't singling you out as much, Master." Taana shot back as she fried one of aberrations with a **Lightning Bolt**. "The damned things must know Gaul and I are Wizards 'cause they're just shy of swarming us!"

"Don't be so dramatic." Gaul said as he used **Hell Flame** to engulf the closest Chuul to him in a pillar of black flame. "Though the inability to use my AOE spells is a pain."

Indeed. If the Chuul weren't right in the middle of the formation, a single AOE spell from Gaul or even Taana would likely have finished the fight. As it was however, any attempt at one would likely cause friendly fire.

"We'll make do with what we have." Yorha commented as she blurred past, leaving a decapitated Chuul in her wake. The swordswoman was raking up a terrifying tally of kills today as she nimbly danced through the chaotic melee and cut down any enemy that came within reach of her sword. Considering that she seemed able to force her way into the tiniest gaps in the swarm of Chuuls attacking them, that was a lot of dead aberrations.

Unfortunately, that meant she wasn't always as careful as she could be and the corpse of her latest victim fell towards Falgrim. He knocked the corpse away with a swing of his Doomhammer but that created an opening and an enterprising Chuul shot its tentacles around his outstretched arm. It was armored but the blasted creature, through sheer luck or actual cunning, managed to snake one of its tentacles through the gaps in the armor just enough to make contact with the Dwarf's skin and deliver a dose of it paralytic power. It wasn't enough to paralyze his arm but it was enough to numb it and dull his movements, thus creating a bigger opening.

One it and the other surrounding Chuul happily capitalized on. As they used their Pincers to grab hold of him while he was too slow to fight them off and begin to drag him into the river. If they managed that then he was a goner.

"Help!" The Dwarf shouted even as he struggled as much as he could in the vice like grip of the Chuul dragging him into the depths.

"Falgrim!" Drau shouted as she began blasting away at the Chuul surrounding him and the Dwarf felt a ray of hope. Only for it to be dashed as a **Fireball** of all things slammed into the Dragon's back, as a squad of Drow appeared out of the gloom to attack the already heavily engaged party. As expected of the Dragon, the spell dealt minimal damage but it threw her off the effort to save him and in the short reprieve, Falgrim's captors pulled him underwater.

_Guess, this is it for me._ The Dwarf thought even as he continued to futilely struggle.

The last blurry image of the party that in recent months had become his family was Neia stepping in to deal with the Drow with a **Rain Arrow** so as to allow Drau to frantically try to rush to save him. It was too late however as the Chuul began rapidly swimming away and he lost sight of his friends completely.

_Goodbye._ He thought to himself as the burning in his lungs finally got too much and he let go of the breath he was holding. As the stream of bubbles exited his mouth, he knew it was all over. He was going to drown and become Chuul food. Strangely that didn't sound too bad. Not when he knew that his party would avenge him a hundred fold.

Such were the last conscious thoughts of Falgrim Doomhammer.

* * *

Finishing off the remainder of the Chuul and the squad of Drow had taken no more than five minutes, but to Taana and the party that was five minutes too many.

"Gaul, which way?" Drau demanded as they stood at a fork in the river they'd been following in an effort to find Master Falgrim.

The necromancer consulted the tiny fairy that his **Blessing of Titania** spell had conjured and gestured to the right.

"This way," he said as he ran down the right fork, the party rushing to maintain formation around him. "It shouldn't be far now."

It wasn't. They'd barely made been running ten minutes before a small group of Chuul tried to stop them. The party smashed through them like they barely existed. Most were felled by Taana's own **Chain Lightning** and the survivors were mopped up by Yorha's blade or shots from Drau and Neia. They didn't even bother to slow down as they dealt with them. Not even as more and more Chuul surged out of the water or crevices by the river's edge to assault them. They just unleashed their magic and skills to massacre everything that stood in their path until they found him.

Master Falgrim was lying on the riverbank inside the nest of a particularly large Chuul whose entire upper body was vaporized by a shot from Drau's sniper rifle even as Taana slid herself to a kneeling position next to her Master. Next to her, she was distantly aware as Gaul used **Undeath Army** to raise a horde of his minions to deal with the remaining Chuul and of Yorha helpfully kicking the carcass of the nest's owner aside to make way for everyone to gather around. She was too busy cradling the half-eaten body of her Master.

The Chuul hadn't managed or wanted to pry open his armor, enchanted as it was by its many runes, so they'd started with his exposed head. They'd used their tentacles to rip it off before probing their way from his neck down into the rest of his body.

"Falgrim!" Neia cried out in dismay from nearby and Taana unwilling looked over to see the Paladin collapsed on the ground cradling the Dwarf's head. It had been nibbled at, but there was still enough of Master's features remaining to be clearly recognizable.

"Neia, can you use **True Resurrection**?"

Taana's hope rose at that but fell almost immediately as she remembered her Master's wishes in that regard.

"Master wouldn't want us to do that." Taana told Drau with a shake of her head. "He said that if he ever died, he wanted to stay dead. No resurrections."

Neia nodded in agreement, tears flowing down her face. "He told me that too."

"Why?" Gaul said, sounding uncharacteristically kind.

"He wanted release and a chance to be with his family again." Taana told them, pulling her Master's corpse tighter against her chest.

Everyone shared looks at that. That Master Falgrim missed his family was something everyone knew. He had kept on going after he'd been forced to kill them, but only so as to avenge them and because he refused to be a coward and take his own life. Now that he had the chance to be with them… He was probably happier than he'd been in decades.

They could not take that away from him, no matter how much it pained them not to even try.

"Then there's only one thing to do." Yorha said in a quiet but firm voice. "We bury him."

* * *

They'd buried him where they had found him. In the middle of the former Chuul nesting ground. They'd debated moving him elsewhere but eventually decided it was better, more symbolic to intern him where he'd fallen. That they'd turned the Chuul that had killed him into zombies and left them to serve as the eternal guardians of his tomb was just poetic justice.

The tomb was an elaborate tower built into the side of the cavern that the underground river had carved. It had been created by Gaul's **Create Fortress** spell and at the very top of the tower, inside a room that appeared carved into the rock itself, they laid Master to rest inside a simple stone sarcophagus that Kuro had used his corrosive properties to hew out of a boulder. Inside they'd placed not just his body but also all his items and equipment that they'd been able to recover from the Chuul nests. A few of his rings were missing, but beyond that, everything was accounted for.

Including the will that Taana was finding the courage to read as she leaned up against Master Falgrim's sarcophagus. The others were giving her space to grieve and were outside the burial chamber doing various things to further fortify the tomb from graverobbers. She wasn't sure what the others were doing, but she knew Neia and Gaul were layering the place in protective and defensive spells. The latter was also filling the place with his undead as another layer of active defense.

"Enough procrastinating." Taana said at last. "Master always said I should keep that to a minimum. So here's go."

Despite her words, she still moved hesitantly as she unsealed the magically sealed container that contained her Master's will. The thing had been something he'd asked Gaul to buy from Felmid on one of the necromancer's supply runs to the homeworld of the gods and kept whatever it contained safe from the ravages of even the worst environments. Perfect, as Master had said, for important documents such as his Last Will and Testament.

_If you're reading this then I'm dead. I'm no legalist or whatnot, so I'm not going to bore you with any legalese and just get right to the point. This here is my Last Will and Testament._

Taana cracked a smile even through her tears at the opening paragraph. Trust her Master to be all gruff like that. While he tried to be polite as much as possible, underneath all that he was a simple Dwarf and that meant being no-nonsense and straightforward.

_Not that I have anything fancy to leave behind. But what I do have, namely my adventuring equipment, supplies and whatever coin I happen to be carrying or set aside as a tab wherever, I leave to my apprentice Taana Baryn Zyfyn. Just let Taana know, if she ain't the one reading this, that she jolly well split whatever's useful with the rest of the party. It's the right thing to do. Anything you guys don't need? I guess you can chuck it into whatever grave you set up for me. They'll be nice reminders of my adventuring days. Oh, and tell Taana that I love her too! She was like a daughter to me._

"And you were like a father to me." Taana whispered back in between sobs, as she wiped away tears unwilling to let them fall and damage her Master's last words.

_On that note. I do have something special for my apprentice. You see shortly after we decided to permanently team up with Drau and the others, I had Gaul commission a piece with the smiths of Felmid. I'd have crafted it myself, but… Yeah… We didn't get the time. Anyways, it's a sword called Stormslash. It's an Adamantine Mastercrafted Enchanted Sword with enchantments that will allow it to channel Stored Lightning or Lightning Strike just like Joltfang does. It'll complete the set. Make sure Taana gets this sword, or I'll come back from whatever afterlife I've ended up and haunt you till she does. Got it?_

Taana chuckled. Her Master would do it too, which meant she'd have to ask Gaul about the sword right after this.

_Oh, and one last thing. I know I said this already but tell Taana I love her alright! That's most important, so don't forget!_

"I won't." Taana promised with a watery smile.

_Signed, Falgrim Doomhammer._

The Shadar-kai kissed her Master's name and sobbed a bit, before pulling away from the Will. Tucking it back into its magical case, she slipped it into her hip pouch next to the rest of her equipment. She would keep it close wherever she went from now onwards. A reminder of her Master's love for her.

Standing, she bowed solemnly to her Master's sarcophagus one last time and with tears running down her eyes she went to find the rest of her family. She had a sword to claim and vengeance to deliver.

* * *

"Are we sure this is the city where those Drow came from?" Taana asked as the party stood on a ledge high up in the walls of a large cavern and looking down on a major Drow city that dominated the cave floor far below.

The city was huge, spanning the vast majority of the cavern with its urban center and its surrounding farmlands. For a race that only moved into the continent when Laerakond became part of Toril during the Spellplague, what the Drow had achieved in building a city of this scope was beyond impressive. And it wasn't even the biggest of their cities in the region.

That said Yorha only paid the city a fraction of her attention, the majority was devoted to watching Taana warily. Whilst she looked calm and focused, that was only on the surface. Inwardly, the young Shadar-kai seethed with anger, pain and a need for painful vengeance. The whole party was much the same, to various extents. But if anyone was to boil over, it was Taana and if her emotions _did_ get the better of her…

_I'll have to stay close and make sure it doesn't happen._ The android swordswoman resolved.

"Gorzoth is certain." Drau told the Shadar-kai. The party having sought the aid of the local Felmidian Devil in locating the origin of the attackers who had contributed to Falgrim's death. "Besides our attackers were wearing the same symbol that is marked all over the city."

The symbol of a stylized spider surrounded by a magic circle that had been stitched into much of the armor and clothing of their Drow attackers was indeed plastered all over the city below.

"Let's get this over with." Neia insisted, her eyes glowing an ominous red signifying she was already channeling Lord Ainz's power and perhaps his bloodthirstiness.

"Neia's right. Gaul, if you please."

The necromancer didn't play along with Drau's mock politeness like he usually did. Instead, he simply stepped over to the edge of the ledge and cast his magic.

" **Maximize, Widen Magic: Nuclear Blast."** He said in a voice so cold that it managed to send a shiver down even Yorha's robotic spine.

It was in sharp contrast to the fiery hell that it unleashed below. Centered the city's gate, the spell utterly destroyed the admanantine structure, the Jade Spider constructs defending it, the forest of Shrieker fungi planted around it that served as its early defense and much of the farmland around the city all in one fell swoop. Protected by a silently cast **Shell Barrier** from Gaul, the party safely weathered the titanic explosion and watched the mushroom cloud it created as well as the shockwave that leveled much of the city that escaped the initial blast. All with a certain amount of glee. Even Kuro seemed pleased with the sight, lifting up the front part of his slug like body and nodding, as if in satisfaction, as he soaked in the sight.

The party waited until the shockwave had settled down and the larger of the debris kicked up by the **Nuclear Blast** to finish falling back to the ground, before moving on to the next phase of their plan.

"Gaul, now." Drau ordered.

" **Gate."** The necromancer cast, without saying a word edgewise.

As the portal formed, the party walked through into the very heart of the city. The spell's ability to ignore any attempts to disrupt it easily overcoming the high levels of faerzress radiation that the Drow used to deter teleportation. The panicking Drow running around them didn't even notice they were there and if they did, were too confused by events to respond appropriately. They were thus unopposed as Gaul closed the previous portal and opened another **Gate**. This second portal led to Felmid and from it stepped out his undead army. Now numbering in their thousands they marched out of the portal like the legions of the damned that they were.

At the sight of what was clearly an invasion force, the city's defenders finally seemed to figure out what to do and Gaul was still organizing his troops when an army of slaves, Giant Spiders and Quaggoths rush down the ruined streets to confront them.

As planned, it was up to the party to deal with these rather unfortunate first responders.

" **Grasscutter Sword!"** Yorha shouted as she used the skill to decapitate an entire unit of slave pikemen as they tried to rush into the central square that Gaul was using as a staging ground for his undead host.

Nearby Taana was imitating a miniature lightning storm as she cut into a pack Quaggoth and their spider pets with Stormslash and Joltfang, both blades charged with electricity thanks to the **Lightning Strike** spell being channeled through them. It probably wasn't the most efficient use of her magic, but the Shadar-kai felt the need for some close up action as she avenged her Master and no one was going to fault her for that. Yorha was comforted though that Kuro was watching the girl's back as evidenced by how he extended a pseudopod to grab a jumping spider out of midair that would have landed on Taana. Full sized as he was, the act alone killed the giant arachnid and he easily consumed its carcass with his corrosive power. Between them, there was precious little for the undead Gaul had sent to assist them had to do at all.

Satisfied that Kuro was keeping Taana safe, Yorha absently use **Sword Blitz** to charge through a rank of incoming slave soldiers, killing dozens of them, so she could get at the Drow overseer cowering behind their ranks and drive her sword through her heart. Their literal slavedriver dead, the rest of the unit stood shocked and was easy prey for the conjured swords of her **Sword Bloom** skill. This broke the unit and the survivors were easily dealt with by the undead that she was meant to be supporting.

No new units seemed to be headed her way for the moment, so Yorha took the chance to check Neia and Drau. The two were holding the line on the road leading towards the temple district and the archer seemed to be having a field day as she unleashed **Rain Arrow** in rapid succession on the masses of Drow troops trying to break through from that side. In between cool downs for her primary AOE skill, Drau and Gaul's undead kept her safe.

_Looks like things there are in hand too._

Suddenly the undead at the center of the square began forming up into ranks and began moving out. Some reinforced the contingents already supporting the party members, but the bulk were massing around Gaul as he began marching off towards the city's mage's district.

_That's the signal._ Yorha thought as she sought out Taana only to see the Shadar-kai already making her way to her with Kuro following behind her.

"Ready?" The swordswoman asked the Wizard.

"Ready." Taana said as she sheathed her still sparking blades. "Let's go."

With that the three set off at the head of a sizable undead host as they headed towards the city's military quarter. The various noble Houses of this particular city had apparently split its various clustered districts based on their primary specialties which probably made coordination, such as it was among Drow, in the case of crisis easier but which now made the decapitation of any attempts at such by the enemy easier as well. Which was exactly what the party intended.

* * *

To that end, Gaul was happily marching towards the mage's district. Fearless, he was at the very head of his column of undead and thus was right in the thick of it as a female Wizard and her Azmyth familiar and squad of apprentices and slave soldiers turned around a corner and stumbled right into his path. The scouting party, for what else could it be, panicked and turned to flee, the bat screeching in alarm the whole time even as Gaul's lead elements, a pack of zombie Umber Hulks he'd originally raised from the successful sacking of the Neogi town all those months ago surged towards the Drow.

Annoyed by the bat's screeching however, Gaul decided do the deed himself.

" **Chain Dragon Lightning."** He sent almost absently, targeting the scouts' Wizard leader and letting the Lung shaped bolt of lightning arc from her to the rest of her men, reducing the whole lot to nothing more than charred corpses. Corpses that he happily added to the ranks of his army through the use of **Undeath Army** and **Create Middle Tier Undead**.

The latter of which he used to raise a pair of new Death Knights and a Soul Eater with which to ride on. Walking was simply too plebeian for what he intended.

It was thus riding on this skeletal horse with tendrils of sparkling pus yellow and emerald green fog replacing its flesh and blood that Gauldoth rode into the Drow's mage's district. The resident wizards hurled all manner of spells his way but he'd deployed a wall of Death Knights enchanted with **Greater Disturb** ahead of him. The spell made them essentially immune to the petty spells thrown their way by the district's mages and so without so much as taking a wound, they proceeded to cut the Drow down by the dozens. All whilst their passive skill raised their slain foes as their Zombie Squires, thus swelling his ranks further.

It was thus with an ever growing bloodbath preceding him that Gauldoth marched into the center of the district where a square surrounded by ostentatious looking wizard's towers stood. Having his Soul Eater mount trot to the very center of this square, the necromancer took a moment to enjoy the scene of his minions butchering the vastly outclassed locals. The sound of their futile defiance being crushed was just divine!

But he only allowed himself a moment to enjoy it though. He had work to do after all. Not that his pause had been mere pointless indulgence on his part, it had coincided with a mental order to his troops to compress their lines a little. This gave the Drow the false impression that they were pushing his minions back and they pushed what they perceived as their advantage hard. Thus concentrating their forces, they did exactly what he wanted.

_For Falgrim._ Gaul thought as he sprung his trap.

" **Widen Magic: Cry of the Banshee."**

The spell unleashed a deadly wail that echoed through the narrow corridors of the Drow mage's district to every pocket of fighting. It sneaked into homes through barred doors and windows and found those cowering within. And all those in the hundred meters around Gaul that was its area of effect that wasn't undead and thus immune to its power… spontaneously dropped dead. With one spell, Gaul had gutted the very heart of the Drow resistance within the mage's district.

"Hunt down and finish off the survivors." Gaul ordered his minions. There were after all those outside the range of his spell that needed dealing with.

His troops were just fanning out when a **Fireball** came hurtling towards him from his left. It almost hit him but a vigilant Death Knight blocked the spell with its Tower Shield.

Surprised that anyone had survived his use of **Cry of the Banshee** , Gaul turned to his attacker to find an ancient looking male Drow Wizard glaring defiantly at him amidst the pile of corpses that might've been his apprentices.

"This isn't the first time I've dealt with instant death spells." The Wizard shouted.

Gaul ignored him, instead focusing on the misshapen remains of what once might have been a ring lying discarded near the wizard's feet.

_So that item to survive protected him, huh? Well, he no longer has its protection anymore._

"Dismiss your minions, necromancer! And face me like a proper wizard!" The Drow mage kept ranting, tossing spells that Gaul's attendant Death Knights just blocked on his behalf.

"If that's what you want. **Grasp Heart.** "

At his invocation, an illusionary heart appeared in Gaul's armored right hand beating frantically especially once the Drow caught sight of it and probably deduced its significance. Smirking, the armored Wizard crushed the heart and the Drow dropped dead mid-cast as the very real heart in his chest shared the fate of its illusionary counterpart and was reduced to useless offal.

"Now, are there any more challengers?" Gaul asked. No one replied. They were nothing in earshot to reply except his undead and they knew their place. And it was just the way Gaul liked it.

Suddenly a pillar of dark purple energy shot out of the city's temple district, causing Gaul to turn towards it curiously. Curiosity that turned to worry as the energy tore a hole in reality above the city, from which an enormous female Drider, easily hundreds of feet across in size, skittered out and loomed over everything.

_Is that an avatar of Lloth?_ Gaul thought, shocked by this latest development.

* * *

Drau and Neia had been steadily advancing to the temple district. They were meeting stiff resistance but nothing they couldn't handle, though it did slow them down. Which was why they were not all that surprised when the pillar of energy shot skyward from the temples. It didn't take a genius to realize that the stiff resistance had been an attempt to buy time for the Drow clerics to complete some kind of ritual.

They were however shocked when said ritual turned out to involve summoning an avatar of Lolth. Sure the Kuo-toa had done something similar but were the Drow really that unoriginal!?

_Still Blibdoolpoolp retreated the moment she knew who we were. Maybe we can get Lolth to do the same this time as well?_

"Lolth!" Drau shouted as loudly as she could, knowing full well the goddess would hear her simply because she'd invoked her name. "Leave this place! Attacking us will violate the other gods' pact with the Bone Father."

Neia shot Drau a look that seemed to say 'I hope you know what you're doing', but otherwise let the Dragon do what she pleased.

_I hope I know what I'm doing too._

The avatar's reply to Drau's bold statement was to throw back her Drow head and laugh. A sound that was at once both sensual and painful to hear, triggering stirrings of pleasure and agony all at once.

" _ **I**_ **signed no such pact."**

"It is enforced by _Lord Ao_ himself." Drau tried desperately. She _really_ didn't want to fight a god, or at least a divine avatar, if she could help it.

Lolth's response was to jump down from her perch on the spatial tear, flipping upright in the process and destroying dozens of the few still standing buildings as she landed in the ruined city.

" **I wasted enough time talking with a** _ **mortal**_ **. Die fools!"** The avatar of Queen of Spiders said as she raised the Drow arms of her Drider form over her head before slamming them down onto the ground, unleashing a shockwave of raw shadow energy that swept across the city.

One of these wavefronts of darkness swept towards Drau and Neia, threatening to sweep them away. Gaul's Death Knights rushed forward to present a shield wall but the Dragon knew it would not be enough. She thus activated her shapeshifting skill and transformed into one of her draconic forms.

In a brilliant flash of light, she'd become a Dragon with white sparkling scales that glowed with a faint, glittering white light and two horns on its head that curled slightly backwards. Using this new much larger, much sturdier body, Drau shielded Neia as Lolth's dark wave swept away most of their escorting undead troops and leveled much of what remained of the surrounding city.

"Neia, find Gaul. Hunker down under his barrier spell. I'll handle this." Drau told her sister, who nodded and ran off shielded by what remained of their undead entourage.

She watched her go for a moment before turning to face Lolth, who was too busy observing her new unfamiliar draconic body to do anything.

" **What manner of Dragon are you?"** The Queen of the Demonweb Pits asked, sounding genuinely curious. " **I've never seen your like before."**

Knowing that she needed to buy time for her family to reach safety, Drau decided to humor the leader of the Dark Seldarine a little. "I'm a Felmidian Dragon. We're a breed entirely apart from those you're familiar with."

Lolth hummed thoughtfully before barking out a preposterous demand. " **I want you. Swear fealty to me and I'll spare you."**

Fortunately, it seemed that Drau had bought enough time as she saw Gaul used a couple of hastily cast **Gate** spells to gather the rest of the party together and had them huddle together under the familiar dome shaped magical barrier of his **Shell Barrier** spell.

Adjusting her position so she could use her own body as another layer of shielding. At the same time, she began channeling her power for this form's breath weapon.

Only when she felt her insides churning with the primal power at her disposal, did Drau reply.

"Never." The child of Ainz Ooal Gown spat.

" **Then I'll kill you and learn your secrets from your corpse."**

Drau's response was to dislocate her jaws and like a snake snap them open impossibly wide and unleash this form's **Explosive Breath** by spitting out a fireball that promptly exploded upon leaving her mouth, a blast that stained the world with a blinding white flash and drowned out all noise with its thunderous roar even as it caused a tremendous heat flare.

As the flash faded and the roar dulled down, they were replaced with cries of terrible pain that struck all those who heard it down to their very souls and the sight of Lolth's avatar collapsed on the ground with two thirds of its body already reduced to ash and the remainder twitching in agony as it struggled to fight the inevitable.

" **I-I will have your h-heads for his hu-humiliation."** The Dark Mother of the Drow warned threateningly as the fatally wounded avatar's remains faded away into nothingness.

Drau did not respond, instead sweeping her great draconic head across the glassed edges of the massive impact crater her **Explosive Breath** had created to make sure that the Queen of Spiders' presence had fully retreated. It was only when she could not sense any trace of the goddess that she transformed back to her normal human form and promptly collapsed to her knees.

_I'm never using that form again._ She thought as her vision swam in and out of focus. _It's too draining._

It was with this thought that she tipped over into unconsciousness and collapsed into the arms of Yorha as the rest of the party exited the **Gate** that opened up in front of her.

* * *

"You sure you're okay?" Neia asked Drau worriedly as the party gathered in the heart of the ravaged Drow city. Not only was it mostly in ruins thanks to Gaul's **Nuclear Blast,** a good chunk had also been completely vaporized by Drau's **Explosive Breath**. So much so that the glass edged crater had even eaten away a corner of the central square in which they were now standing.

"I'm fine." Drau insisted. "Or don't you trust your own magic? You're the one who healed me, remember?"

"I know. I'm just worried." Neia confessed. "I've never seen you look so weak…"

Drau ruffled Neia's hair affectionately as the Paladin trailed off. "No need to worry. I'm not lying. I'm fine. Just get started with the ceremony already."

_Why does she like messing with my hair?_ Neia thought with a pout even as she fixed the mess Drau had made of her hair, but nevertheless moved to do as she asked.

Reaching the center of the square, now filled with throngs of the Drow's freed slaves supervised by Gaul's undead, Neia walked up a makeshift altar of stacked stone and stood in front of a bench where the offerings of the ceremony - the severed heads of all ten most high ranking heads they could find intact - were laid out. She surveyed the masses with her eyes glowing red with the Bone Father's power and cowing the crowd of former slaves into silence.

It took a few minutes but there was soon a respectful silence enveloping the whole square. It was only then that Neia began her ceremony.

"Subjects of Ainz Ooal Gown," the Paladin of the Supreme One said, addressing the liberated slaves who whether they knew it or not were all her Lord's subjects. "Revel! For today by the Bone Father's will you are free! Rejoice! For today by his generosity, he welcomes you into his warm embrace!"

Responding to her prompt, a series of Gates opened around the square connecting the ruined Drow city and Felmid, allowing Momons in all their undead glory to stalk out ahead of columns of lesser undead, all of them carrying relief supplies.

"Today, we mark another great victory against the enemies of the Supreme One! Against slavery! Against the dark gods who support it! Today is a great day!"

A cheer of agreement erupted from the crowd and Neia let it continue for a while before gesturing for silence. Enthralled by her charisma, by her passive skills as an Evangelist, they obeyed.

"But today's victory is special. For it is the completion of an act of just vengeance! The Drow of this city was partially responsible for the death of a dear comrade of mine, a fellow Chosen of Ainz Ooal Gown, the Dwarf Runesmith Falgrim Doomhammer. Today, by this city's destruction, he is avenged!"

Cheers erupted again. This time Neia did not silence them as she continued.

"Today we have shown the Drow and the world that the Supreme One does not forget _any_ slight against him or his faithful!" Neia said, her voice carrying over the cheers of the crowd even though she had not raised her voice. "So join me today, my brothers and sisters, in giving praise to our lost champion, my lost brother, Falgrim Doomhammer."

The mesmerized crowd chanted Falgrim's name rapturously.

"And give glory to our Lord and Master. Ainz Ooal Gown!"

The fervent, reverent cries for their god roared across the cavern and brought a smile to Neia's face. She'd done it. These people were her god's now. Now and forever more.

* * *

It was an hour or so after the ceremony dedicating the latest victory in honor of Falgrim and to the glory of the Bone Father, and the whole party was taking a break. With the Momons having taken charge of the freed slaves, they had nothing to do for the moment, so they'd set up camp for the day next to a water fountain. They'd originally intended to bunk in one of the former Drow dwellings, preferably the more opulent the better as a final insult to its previous owners, but the plethora of traps they'd encountered when they tried to enter the house they'd chosen had dissuaded them of the idea. Gaul had next suggested that he use **Create Fortress** to conjure housing for them, but Drau had overruled him, reminding him that the spell had a cooldown that measured in days and that he should save it for situations when they needed to camp in a hostile environment.

"At least we have readily available water?" Neia told a pouting Taana as the latter eyed the opulent houses surrounding the small courtyard they were camping in.

"I wanted to sleep in a proper bed for once." Taana whined. "Then trash it for good measure."

"There is no need for such vindictiveness. The dead are dead and can no longer suffer from your insults." a smoothly cultured voice said suddenly, causing everyone to spin around to its source.

Standing in what had been empty space in the center of the party's camp just a moment ago was a elderly man and dressed in the traditional black uniform of a butler. His hair and beard were completely white and immaculately well groomed. He had visible wrinkles on his hollow face, which gave him a gentle appearance that almost offset the eagle eyed intensity of his sharp eyes.

"Lord Sebas," Neia said at once falling to her knees to honor the god of duty. "To what do we owe the honor of your presence?"

At realizing just who had decided to pay them a visit, everyone else fell to their knees as well.

"Rise," the god ordered them kindly. "I have come to make a delivery."

With that he snapped his fingers and a set of plate armor made of scintillating material appeared in front of Gaul.

"This good necromancer is the Flail Snail Armor you commissioned." The god said, gesturing to the set of armor. "Use it well."

"I will, my lord." Gauldoth said with a solemn nod.

"Beyond delivering that, I have also come to commend you all on your good work." Lord Sebas said looking each of them in the eyes in turn. "Your efforts have greatly pleased the Supreme Being. So much so that when you need him most, the Supreme One has decreed he shall send forth his greatest servants to your aid."

_Why does that sound ominous? It's like the Bone Father expects us to need his aid soon?_

"He honors us, Lord Sebas." Drau said, biting her lip nervously for some reason. "But I hope that won't be necessary."

"The wise Lord Ainz predicted you would say that," Lord Sebas said with a comforting look for their leader. "And told me to tell you that and I quote, 'It is better to have the option than to need it and not have it.' Do you understand Draudillon Oriculus, daughter of my Lord?"

"I understand, Lord Sebas."

"Good." Lord Sebas replied with a satisfied nod. "Then I will take my leave. Good hunting, Chosen of my Lord."

With that, the god vanished as suddenly as he'd come leaving behind a worried party that scrambled to make sense of what prompted a visit from one of their gods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> So Lolth got owned. A little unbelievable? Well, recall just what Drau is and maybe things start looking more fair. She's an avatar of Ainz Ooal Gown, knows it and thus can access fragments of his power. Taking that into consideration her being able to stand toe to toe with other divine avatars, even those directly piloted by other gods, is logical. Well, to me at least. Let me know if you think otherwise.
> 
> That's it for me this chapter so till next time zàijiàn!


	16. Adventuring with Avatars 9: The Might of Ainz Ooal Gown

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Adventuring with Avatars**

**Chapter 9: The Might of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Beta:**

* * *

Another day and the party was ransacking another slaver settlement.

Having destroyed one of the largest Drow cities in the Laerakond Underdark last time, the party had decided that this time they would go for broke and take out the dark elves' _biggest_ city this time. That this would be a fitting continuation of their revenge against the blasted deep elves was just icing on top of the cake.

It was thus that Taana found herself in the city's streets fighting in the thick of a melee between a horde of Gaul's undead and a squad of Drow Fighters. Parrying a slash from her current opponent, a male Fighter, with Stormslash, she let the electricity coursing through her sword thanks to her active **Lightning Strike** spell shock him and leave him open for her to use Joltfang to slit his throat. She didn't fully manage to cut it completely open before he recovered enough to pull off a hasty retreat, but the deep, long gash would kill him nonetheless.

_Which is nothing less than an evil slaver like him deserves._

She was just searching for a new opponent, thinking it was time to let loose some supporting magical fire when she was unexpectedly hit by a **Fireball**. Instinctively, she activated her new **Iron Body** spell with a fragment of Falgrim's armor as catalyst to minimize the damage, temporarily transforming herself into living iron. This combined with her dragonhide armor's high resistance to fire damage allowed her to escape practically unscathed. Her opponent however could not say the same if the scream at her retaliatory **Lightning Bolt** was anything to go by.

The flames however consumed the various bags of supplies and extra equipment she was wearing and rapidly pulling them off her body, she patted them down against the ground.

"Shit," she cursed as she ducked down to check the damage thus signaling her escorting undead to form up around her in a defensive formation. "There goes most of my supplies. Drau is gonna scold me for having to get it all repla-"

Her rant was cut off when her survey of her ruined equipment reached the Runic Compendium Taana inherited from Falgrim. It shouldn't have been possible. The book was protected by runes that enhanced its durability but the proof was undeniable, it was badly scorched.

"No, no, no!" The Shadar-kai cried out as she carefully tried to flip the pages of the damaged book. The fire damage was extensive indeed, with many of the pages completely illegible. "T-This can't be happening! Why would the runes fail now?"

Around her, the Drow seemed to sense her distress and were pressing an attack against her position. Something which suited Taana just fine to be honest. For she was not despairing over the lost. If anything, the damage to her Master's priceless heirloom had stoked her murderous rage towards the Drow to greater heights.

"Die, you Drow scum!" Taana roared to her oncoming attackers, even as she readied her magic. " **Arc of Lightning!"**

Mentally setting the start and end point of her spell at either end of the Drow line, Taana watched in satisfaction as a bolt of electricity arced between both points frying the entire first rank of the Drow force in front of her. She wasn't done however.

"Charge!" Taana screamed at the undead around her. "Kill them all!"

They weren't her minions, but their master had instructed them to obey her commanders thus at her orders the undead, a healthy mix of various Skeletons, Zombies, Death Knights and even a few spectral monsters, surged into the already ravaged Drow force. What followed could only be called a massacre as the undead slew the slavers with the methodical precision characteristic of the unliving.

Taana however paid it no mind, too busy salvaging what she could of Master Falgrim's Runic Compendium as she could and gingerly placing it into a pouch she unceremoniously pulled off the corpse of a Drow she'd killed early. Strapping the new pouch and its precious contents to her chest, she swore to herself that she would take better care of it from now onwards.

The familiar hissing report of Drau's sniper rifle told Taana that some of her party members had arrived to check up on her. The party having split up to lead separate assaults as they often did when assaulting a city, Taana had been operating alone up till now.

"Taana," Neia cried out in alarm as she ran over, casually shooting a quartet of arrows at the enemy as she did and not once breaking stride. "Are you alright? We heard you cry out."

"I'm fine." The Wizard reassured the Paladin. "I just got careless and Master's Compendium got hit."

Neia gasped, but it was Drau stalking over now with her sniper rifle raised and occasionally taking shots into the far distance that asked. "Is it intact?"

"It's badly damaged." Taana confessed.

"We'll get it fixed. Somehow. I promise." Neia offered as she squeezed the Shadar-kai's arm reassuringly.

"Yes, and in the meantime we have a battle to win. Are you okay to keep fighting?"

"Yeah. I'm fine Drau. Just pissed." Taana assured her leader, before something caught her eye. "Uh, Drau, did Gaul say he'd be summoning more reinforcements from Felmid?"

"No. Why?" The Dragon asked and Taana just pointed behind them.

Her two partymates spun around and were greeted with the sight of multiple **Gate** portals opening to the rear of their advancing lines from which poured forth an army. It consisted of people from all manner of races that ranged from Humans to Elves to Dwarves to Lizardmen and everything in between, but regardless of race they moved with the cohesion of a well trained army. Armored in lighter versions of Drau's powered armor and armed with various exotic looking guns, these soldiers advanced into the Drow city under the command of a host Momons each of which weren't even hiding their horrific undead form.

"W-What the hell?" Drau asked, shocked speechless.

"We have come to assist, Lady Drau." A Momon wearing an ornate military uniform over its skeletal body and the withered plant like material that passed for its flesh. "We and the slaves you've liberated that we have been given the honor to command. By order of Lord Ainz himself, we are at your disposal."

Neia's eyes lit up at this and barely kept herself from squealing in joy. Taana herself smirked as she shared the Paladin's enthusiasm. With an army equipped and trained by Felmid at their backs, she could only imagine the amount of hurt they could cause to the slavers of the world.

Drau however was still too shocked by the development to manage a response.

She was saved from her lack of a reply turning awkward however when with the sound of cracking glass, the view of the cavern ceiling suddenly shattered and was replaced by a portal to a plane of rocky gorges and covered with many pits and craters. The petrified corpses of giant spiders and webbing littered the landscape which was illuminated by a distant red sun.

From this portal floated out three terrifying figures. On the right was a Drow Lich and on the left was a Drow male Fighter, both radiating obscene amounts of power. Standing between these normal sized figures was a familiar looking massive Drider avatar of Lolth herself.

"Looks like Lolth is back." Neia said with a frown. "And she's brought Kiaransalee and Selvetarm with her this time."

"Three divine avatars?" Taana breathed fearfully as the Drow gods began descending to the city, singling out their opponents. "This is bad."

* * *

Some distance away from Taana's group, Gauldoth Half-Dead hadn't heard the Shadar-kai's rather understated description of their situation. If he had, he'd probably have called her out on just how much of an understatement it was. Sure, they'd survived encounters with divine avatars before but in both those cases there had only one been of them and it had mostly been because of Drau's insane power. Now though, Gaul found himself having to face off Kiaransalee, the Drow Lady of the Dead, all on his own and was struggling just to survive.

A whole legion of his undead died acting as his shields from the Drow goddess of necromancy's shadow bolts as they bought time for Gual to cast his spells.

" **Maximize Magic: Vermillion Nova! Triplet, Maximize Magic: Reality Slash!"** The armored wizard roared as he set his opponent alight in a pillar of flame and sent three tears in reality at the target, intent on cutting her to pieces.

Not that either spell did any good. The **Vermillion Nova** did indeed surround Kiaransalee's Lich avatar in flames but they never so much as touched her, instead flowing off the aura of darkness she'd wrapped around herself like water off a duck's back. Similarly his **Reality Slash** es merely struck the same protective barrier to no effect.

" **What intriguing spells you have, mortal."** The Drow goddess said in an intrigued voice. " **I wonder if I dissect your corpse and soul, will I be able to learn their secrets?"**

"You'll have to kill me first." Gauldoth shouted defiantly as he pulled another group of his undead in front of him to serve as shields for the goddess' inevitable counterattack.

" **Oh! That is exactly what I intend."** Kiaransalee said with a chuckle that sounded like nothing less than the reaper ringing his bell for Gaul's demise. " **Now then, time to die little mor-"**

The Lich goddess was unable to finish her sentence as she was suddenly impaled by a giant, bizarre-shaped dropper shaped spear. Its wielder, a beautiful silver haired woman in a ball gown materializing a second later behind the shocked Drow Lady of the Dead

"I'm an idiot, but even I know not to get distracted in a fight." The new arrival taunted, speaking in a normal voice unlike the Drow goddess' avatar despite the clearly divine power radiating off her. "You? You're _really_ a fool aren't you Lich girl?"

" **I don't know who you are but you'll pay for this insult."** Kiaransalee shouted as she conjured hundreds of shadow lances around her which she promptly sent shooting towards her attacker. She was so confident in her attack that she didn't even bother to attempt to free herself from her impalement.

This overconfidence was shattered and her eyes widened in horror as her attack literally bounced off the silver haired woman's newly materialized set of crimson colored full plate armor with a swan-shaped helmet decorated with plumes of avian feathers attached on both sides and chest and shoulders styled into the shape of wings.

"Done?" The armored woman said. "Then it's my turn. **Purifying Javelin.** "

Whatever she'd used, a skill or spell Gauldoth didn't know, caused her lance to grow brilliant white with holy energy and literally burned Kiaransalee's body to ash even as the Drow goddess screamed in what must have been absolute agony.

_By the Nine Hells! Just who is this goddess to so effortlessly defeat Kiaransalee like that?_

"So easily defeated? Pathetic." The unknown woman said as she shook her head and stepped over the defeated remains of the drow lesser deity's avatar.

"Greetings Gauldoth Half-dead." The woman said with a curtsy, her armor having been replaced by her elaborate dress once more from one instance to the next. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." Gaul said warily. "But you have me at a disadvantage."

"Ah! Apologies. Where are my manners? I am Shalltear Bloodfallen, Nazarick deity of blood and mayhem."

Gauldoth immediately fell to one knee. He knew full well who Lady Bloodfallen was! He might not have been a particularly devout adherent of the gods but he'd listened to enough of Neia's sermons to know he was now before one of the Supreme One's consorts.

"Hail Lady Shalltear!" The armored Wizard said with all the sincerity he could put into his words. "It is my great honor to be in your presence. My deepest thanks for-"

He stopped himself when he felt unnaturally soft hands caress his face, on the twisted undead side no less, despite the fact that his helm was firmly in place. Looking up, he saw Lady Shalltear had moved to stand right in front of him and her hand was phasing right through the visor of his armored helmet.

"Of all of my beloved's children, did you know Gauldoth Half-Dead that I like you most?" The Felmidian goddess said as she continued to caress his face like she was her precious child. "That is why when your Father asked us Guardians to come assist you and your siblings against the Dark Seldarine, I immediately volunteered to come to your aid."

_She speaks as if I, and the party, are children of Lord Ainz? Is that a figure of speech or…_ A faint suspicion Gaul had been harboring since he'd first met Drau and especially since he'd first seen the Dragon's true power in the Kuo-toa city stirred to life. _Could it be, could we be… No. Now isn't the time for such ponderings._

"You honor me, my lady."

"Nonsense. It is the least I could do." The vampiric goddess, for Neia had been clear that Lady Shalltear was some breed of Vampire, said as she leaned down and completely ignoring the existence of his helmet kissed Gauldoth's forehead. "And it was my pleasure, our good boy."

* * *

While Gauldoth was having a motherly audience with Lady Shalltear, Yorha and Kuro found themselves locked in a losing fight with the Drow god Selvetarm. Armed with a mace and a longsword, the self-proclaimed Champion of Lolth had launched into a full on attack the moment he'd spotted them and the swordswoman was increasingly hard pressed to hold him off.

His blows came so fast that Yorha was barely able to keep up with his sword and had to leave the defense against Selvetarm's heavy mace entirely to Kuro and his pseudopods. Her holofield, her primary defense, was useless. The lesser god clearly able to see through the illusions created by her device entirely. Worse, he kept speeding up his attacks! As a result, slowly but surely the Drow god was pushing Yorha back.

She couldn't last forever but it wasn't her who faltered first. It was Kuro. The Slime misjudged the strength of one of Selvetarm's blows and put too little of his mass into the pseudopod he used to block the strike, allowing the heavy mace to smash through his attempt at a shield entirely and slam into the side of Yorha's hand. The force behind the blow was tremendous and sent the android flying into a nearby building, bringing the whole structure crashing down on top of her.

If she was Human as she outwardly appeared, the blow would have knocked her head off or the impact with the building would have crashed her. As it was, all she'd suffered as a result of the blow was a little disorientation from her processors being banged about. Though even that cleared by the time she finished pushing her way out of the rubble of the ruined building with her robotic strength and a little help from Kuro's corrosive power. Thus she had her full faculties as she emerged only to have Selvetarm's longsword leveled directly at her throat.

" **Time to die, automaton."** The god said with a bloodthirsty grin before he lunged forward in a thrust.

_So this is how I die._ Yorha thought as she prepared herself for her end.

She was saved however when an odachi parried the attack and sent Selvetarm skidding back in a single powerful swing.

"I. Do. Not. Think. So. Drow." A stuttering, coldly furious voice said as a enormous four armed bipedal insectoid that was a fusion between a mantis and an ant with a tail twice as long as its height and covered in sharp spikes like icicles faded into view from nowhere.

" **Who are you?"** The Drow god hissed as he tensed into a battle stance.

"Cocytus." The insectoid said as he brandished his odachi in his top right hand, a gleaming silvery halberd in its left top hand, and a pair of long daggers that radiated malevolence in his lower pair of arms. "Nazarick. God. Of warriors and honour."

_One of the gods of Nazarick!_ Yorha thought, her eyes widening in wonder. _I was just saved by a god of Nazarick himself._

" **A fellow god? Killing you will indeed be glorious."** The Drow god crowed as he launched into an attack.

Yorha opened her mouth to shout a warning about Selvetarm's speed and skill. But as Lord Cocytus met the attack head on, meeting Selvetarm blow for blow, she realized it was unnecessary. Even as the attacks moved so fast that everything mixed together into an indecipherable blur even for Yorha's skilled eyes, Lord Cocytus held his own or better.

The fight was moving so fast that the android swordswoman was completely unable to see the exact exchange that ended it. All she saw was the Drow god suddenly freeze as his body collapsed as his head was separated from his shoulders before the remainder was cut to pieces by the Nazarick god.

_Wow!_ Yorha thought, awed by the display.

"Are. You. Alright. Young Lady Yorha?"

_Young Lady? Why is he calling me that?_ Yorha thought as she fell to her knees.

"Thank you Lord Cocytus for coming to my aid. You have my deepest thanks."

Kuro nodded along, imitating her gesture of thanks as best he could.

"It. Was. My pleasure. To. Aid. My Lord's daughters." The god said in his stuttering way. "Now. Are. You. Well, Young Lady?"

"I am. As is my pet, Kuro." Yorha reassured the insectoid divinity. "Thank you for your concern."

"Good. Good." Cocytus said, clicking his mandibles in what Yorha thought might be a gesture of satisfaction. "Now. Only. Lolth remains. Young Miss Drau. Seems. To be. Handling. It. Well. Though. A little. Help. Will. Not. Be. Remiss."

Looking over to the fight between Drau and the avatar of Lolth, something Yorha could only really afford to now, the android couldn't really share the god's opinion. By her account, her leader needed a lot more than just 'a little help'. While it seemed she had Lolth on the run, she wasn't able to score even a decent hit!

As she turned to tell the god as much, she was surprised to find he was already gone.

* * *

To no surprise to Drau at all, Lolth singled her out as her opponent. Thus as the Queen of Spiders and her cadre dispersed to pick their opponents, the leader of the Dark Seldarine's Drider avatar leapt directly at her. Reacting quickly, Drau used the skills of her Shapeshifter class to transform into one of her draconic forms.

Taking on the form of an albino dragon with a snake-like head, with a bulging middle body that did not seem to fit with its comparatively tiny bat-like wings and vertically-slitted blood-red eyes, Drau used her long snake whip-like tail to scoop up Neia and Taana and deposit them as far from her as she could. She didn't want them caught up in the fight to come. At the same time, she took advantage of Lolth still being in the air from her leap to launch into an offensive.

" **Soulbreaker Breath!"** She roared as she shot a malignant beam of sickly green colored energy from her mouth. This was arguably one of, if not _the_ most, powerful breath weapons available to Drau across her various forms. The **Soulbreaker Breath** being an irresistible attack that consumed the soul of anything it touched.

Perhaps sensing the danger or merely learning from the experience of their last encounter not to underestimate her, Lolth wisely did not seek to take the attack head on. Instead, shooting webbing from the abdomen of her arachnid portion of her avatar, she swung out of the way of the beam of energy. She did not however fully evade the attack, and it struck the spider legs of the Drider avatar along its left side.

" **What is this nonsense!?"** Lloth shouted, sounding flabbergasted as she tried to stand but found the legs that had been struck by the **Soulbreaker Breath** were completely unresponsive. " **How many deadly Dragon forms do you have!?"**

"Enough." Drau said as she coiled her neck to line up another shot, only for Lolth to grow a fresh set of legs to replace her disabled ones and leapt away. "Hold still!"

" **And let you destroy another of my avatars without a fight? I think not."** The Drow Dark Mother retorted as she sent various bolts of dark energies flying at the stationary Drau.

" **Wall of Divine Protection!"** Neia suddenly shouted, conjuring a wall of translucent shimmering energy in front of Drau with her newest spell that blocked much of Lolth's barrage. It shattered fairly quickly but a determined Neia simply cast another one each time that it did.

_Thank you, sister._ Drau thought as she fired her **Soulbreaker Breath** letting the beam cut across the cityscape as it tracked Lolth as she jumped around like a massively oversized jumping spider to evade it. Though this was made difficult as a barrage of various lightning spells dogged her as Taana drained her store of spells in a bid to pin her down. An effort soon aided by the armies of freed slaves which shot everything they had, guns, magic, heavy weapons, anything, to trap her for just a moment and allow Drau to finish her off. It was sadly to no avail.

" **You'll have to do better than that mortals."** Lolth taunted as Drau's breath attack ran out of steam and she finally stopped.

_Shit! It'll take some time for my breath to cool down. Quick, I have to think of some way to keep her occupied before she launches her counterattack._

" **Now it's time to see just how much of a failure you really are."** Lolth said, as she begun to shift her till now unabated bombardment of Drau unto the army of freed slaves.

At least she tried.

"G trian ge harm a mortals droln further. Ol trian ge allow t. (You will not harm the mortals any further. I will not allow it.)" An elephant sized bright pink fetus with an angelic halo above his head and featherless stick-like wings on its back said in an incomprehensible tongue as it appeared out of nowhere.

**"Sacrificial Bind!"**

Despite being unable to understand the strange being, that Drau belatedly realized was an avatar of the god Victim, was saying, the effect of the skill he activated was obvious to all. At his invocation, his body exploded in a shower of gore. However, in defiance to gravity the blood and viscera did fall to the ground. Instead, they became ribbons of sanguine power that proceeded to wrap themselves around Lolth's avatar and pin her to the ground.

" **What is the meaning of this!"** The Queen of Spiders howled as she struggled desperately against the strange bonds that trapped her and held fast despite her best efforts.

" **Your defeat."** Drau told the avatar seriously. " **Soulbreaker Breath!"**

This time Lolth could do nothing as the Dragon daughter of Ainz Ooal Gown's deadly breath struck her restrained avatar dead on and burned through the goddess' connection to it at the level of the soul, rendering the monstrous avatar inert and burning the greater deity's very soul in the process. It was thus with a howl of rage and pain that Lolth's presence was sent hurtling back to the Demonweb Pits.

* * *

"You sure you don't want to help us set up the ritual?" Neia asked Taana in the aftermath of the battle as they sat inside a tent the Momons had set up to house their operation cataloguing the spoils of their victory.

"Maybe later," the Shadar-kai hedged. "I really want to finish this first."

As she said this, the young wizard gestured to the pair of books she's set out on the table before her. One was the damaged Runic Compendium that she'd inherited from Falgrim and the other was a Tome of All Runes they'd discovered inside the vaults of the destroyed Drow city. The Shadar-Kai was determined to use the latter as a reference to recreate her Master's work.

"It's Master Falgrim's legacy and I don't want to lose it. And-"

_And we all know how important he was to you._ Neia thought. It was no secret that the Shadar-kai thought the world of her Master. Even seeing him as a father figure of sorts. Considering the almost neglectful attitude her own father had towards her in Taana's stories of him, which was apparently normal for Shadar-kai, Neia was immensely glad Taana had found a better role model in the Dwarven Runesmith. Thus knowing that the wizard was doing something to honor the man's legacy, she could only support her in her efforts.

"Say no more." Neia said raising her hands placatingly. "I was just checking."

"Oh!" Taana said, blushing in embarrassment. "Sorry. But yeah. I'll come over once I'm done."

"Sure. The ritual this time is hugely complex, at least based on the revelation Lord Ainz sent me it is anyways, so I'm sure there'll be plenty for you to help with even after you're done with repairing the Compendium."

"You can count on my help." Taana assured the Paladin.

"I'll help her with the book." Gaul said suddenly, breaking the silence he'd maintained while watching the two women from the shadows the whole time. "It'll speed things up."

_In other words, leave her to your care huh?_ Neia though, parsing out what the abrasive Wizard really meant.

_Alright, you big softie._ Neia said without words as she nodded and sent him a meaningful look. _But you better take good care of her. You know she is fragile right now._

Gaul's return nod was a silent acknowledgement that he understood.

"Thanks Gaul," Taana told the necromancer, her eyes shimmering with tears of gratitude and completely unaware of the unspoken conversation between her two friends.

"Then I'll leave you two alone." Neia said as she turned to leave. "Don't take too long alright."

"We won't." Taana shouted at her reassuringly.

Neia was sure they wouldn't. Gaul would make sure of that.

As she stepped out of the tent however, she had to shelve such thoughts for a moment as a Momon with a clipboard came over. Dressed as she was in what Neia had taken to understand was called a skirt suit on Felmid, the mighty undead was some kind of bureaucrat back on the holy world and had been sent over by the gods of Nazarick to assist her with the upcoming ritual.

"Lady Neia, all the prisoners have been prepared in the city's squares as you requested. It's a little cramped though, so we've had to make use of whatever open space we can find but we've managed."

"So long as it's open air, such as that is here in the Underdark, it should be fine Renner." Neia waved the concern away. "Have the executioners been selected?"

"They have." The undead in the guise of a young human girl with silky smooth and supple golden hair that draped over the back of her neck and vibrant, dark blue eyes that shone like sapphires said. "We had no shortage of volunteers among the troops."

"I imagine not." Neia said with a chuckle. Considering the troops were all former slaves, it would have been a surprise if they hadn't been eager to kill a slaver. "And the rest of my family?"

"They are in the main square helping oversee as my colleagues set up of the main altar."

"Let's join them." Neia said with a decisive nod and walking over to a waiting pair of Soul Eaters. "I'd like to make sure the altar is to my exact specifications as well."

"Of course, my lady."

* * *

Momonga sat back on the Throne of Kings within the Throne Room of Nazarick and watched through the Mirror of Remote Viewing as his daughter Neia led the faithful she and her family had amassed in his name through the ritual murder of the Drow prisoners from their latest conquest.

"My love," Albedo asked from her customary place at his right. "What do you intend to use the power granted to you by the sacrifice of the ten thousand Drow for?"

"Watch." Momonga said distractedly.

Normally he would never be so curt with his Guardians, much less one of his Consorts but he was too enthralled by the magic his daughter was working at his command to measure his words like he usually would. Not that Albedo or the other Guardians watching the scene playing out in the Mirror blamed him even if they could bring themselves to think anything remotely negative about the Supreme One. The sight of rivers of blood flowing up into the sky and forming into a portal was a quite impressive sight. Especially for being the work of a mortal, even one that was a daughter of their Lord.

"Behold a portal to the Demonweb Pits." Momonga said as he stood and walked towards the Mirror. "One that is just waiting for me to use."

Chuckling at his joke, the Overlord teleported himself with an application of his divine will from his Throne Room to just before the portal his daughter had opened for him. Turning to his children far below, he gave Neia a nod of gratitude before facing the portal once more and stepped through.

The moment he entered the 66th layer of the Abyss, Momonga found himself standing before no less than the entire gathered might of the Dark Seldarine excepting its lone white sheep Eilistraee.

"My, my, what a welcome." Momonga said with a chuckle as the Drow gods charged or began flinging magic at him. Flaring his aura, he let it easily deflect or absorb the flurry of desperate attacks as he calmly prepared his chosen spell. " **Mass Death Thorn Bind."**

At his invocation, five shining roots of necrotic energy erupted from the earth beneath each of the various Drow gods exceptiing Lolth and proceeded to entangle them all. They struggled of course but that just caused them more pain and humiliation as the spell shocked them with bursts of Momonga's power with every attempt, pulling more than one pained scream from their lips. Deciding to add insult to injury, he exercised his will and caused the very webbing that was omnipresent in the Demonweb Pits to suddenly come to life and start cocooning the Drow gods.

"H-How?" Lolth cried out as she retreated in terror.

"Do you know what my greatest power is, Lolth?" Momonga asked conversationally even as advanced on the Dark Mother of the Drow unhurriedly, walking through the forest of bound forms of her pantheon.

"What is it? What foul magic is your great power?" Lolth hissed, hurling bolts of shadow magic at the Supreme One of Felmid.

"My greatest power, Queen of Spiders, is that I carry a bit of _my world_ wherever I go. Wherever I set foot, I impose _my will_. Wherever my power extends, unless specifically countered, the place comes under _my dominion_. Such is what is happening to your precious Demonweb Pits."

With that the webs of the Pits shot at Lolth and began to wrap around her in a bid to restrain her. She struggled shifting from humanoid to Drider and everything in between to slip out of them, even as she blasted the webbing apart with all kinds of magic. The webs just kept coming however.

Her efforts kept her so distracted that she failed to notice as Momonga teleported the remaining distance and appeared right in front of her. She only realized her enemy was close when his skeletal hands wrapped firmly around her throat and began to squeeze. Lolth grabbed at his hands, pulling desperately to free herself but the primordial's hands were unmovable. Her efforts were further hampered when the webbing of the Pits took her preoccupation with struggling against Momonga to snag her arms firmly in their grip and pull them away where they swiftly bound them to her side.

She was on the very verge of death, the last of her breath spilling from her lips when Momonga abruptly let go.

"W-Why? Why d-did you stop?" Lolth asked, through big gasping pants as she struggled to regain her breath.

"This is much more effective than simply killing you." Momonga told her, leaning down so his skeletal face loomed over her fleshy one. "By defeating you and your whole pantheon but _not_ killing you, you'll be cowed for a thousand years. At least."

"You think showing us mercy will cow us?"

"Mercy?" Momonga asked with a laugh that sent a shiver down Lolth's spine. "Do not mistake this for mercy, Lolth. This is pragmatism. Killing you and reaping your divine essence is a great reward _but_ demonstrating how easy it is to do so… Tell me would you dare risk my wrath?"

Lolth opened her mouth with a defiant look in her eyes, but Momonga simply reached out with one hand, gripped her throat and squeezed.

"N-No!" Lolth choked out instead and Ainz let go. "I will never risk your wrath again."

"Not anytime soon at least." Momonga acknowledged. "Which means I've gained an ally. And I always need more of those."

The Queen of Spiders just nodded dumbly, as if unable to comprehend what had transpired. That was fine, she didn't need to know how stretched thin he was processing the gains he'd made since his arrival in Realmspace so far and how he'd much rather a cowed and potentially treacherous ally than having to incorporate more conquests into his domains. The chaos caused by the influx of slaves freed by his children had been bad enough.

As such he merely smiled in satisfaction and turned to leave the Demonweb Pits walking once more though the forest of its restrained gods. He was just about to step through the portal back to Toril when he turned to look at the still bound Lolth in the eyes again.

"One last thing before I leave," Momonga said, trying to sound playful but coming across as menacing even to his own nonexistent ears. "Leave my children alone from now onwards. If not, I _will_ return and destroy you all."

With that he stepped through the portal, leaving behind a terrified and humbled pantheon of gods.

* * *

"-can't believe we saw the Supreme One himself!"

That was the first words that Kuro the Blacklight Slime ever heard as a sapient being. For the better part of his life Kuro had been little more than a feral creature with an intelligence and awareness no greater than a dog or cat, but that slowly grew as he feasted on the corpses of the intelligent enemies of his family. Slowly but surely, with each Kuo-toa, Drow, Illithid and other slaver or enemy he devoured, he grew closer and closer to sapience. Not that he even noticed. The whole thing was so gradual that he barely noticed. It was only when he finished digesting the last of the Drow he'd fed on from their latest conquest that he crossed the indefinable boundary between beast and thinking creature. Perhaps it was the vast amount of experience he'd plundered from feeding off the memories of both, but the moment he crossed the line he just _knew_ the difference. Though for the life of him, describing it was beyond him. Just as describing colors to the blind was impossible, so too was describing non-sapience to a sapient.

For Kuro, it was just a moment of profound shock and he froze. His family didn't notice though and continued their discussion around the campfire they'd lit in the ruins of the Drow city they'd just conquered.

"I know, Neia. You've been gushing about it for the past hour. Enough already." Gaul chided the resident Paladin, earning a pout from the blonde haired archer but she nevertheless stopped her gushing.

"A little harsh with the wording there, Gaul. But he's right, please stop fangirling already Neia. Please." Drau added teasingly, causing the archer to pout even harder and garnering laughs from everyone else.

"So what do we do now?" Taana asked after everyone calmed back down. "I mean we have an army at our back now."

At this the Shadar-kai gestured to the legions of former slaves that were camped around them.

"Where do we point them?"

Drau looked ready to launch into a brainstorming session right then, but Kuro could tell everyone was tired. They all tried to hide it but he'd known them long enough and eaten enough experts of body language, mainly slave overseers but he couldn't exactly help his meal options, to notice all their various tells. Thankfully, he wasn't the only one and Yorha quickly cut in.

"We can make the selection tomorrow. For now, we should rest."

He'd heard her voice innumerable times before now and remembered every single instance of it. Yet somehow hearing Yorha's melodic voice as a proper sapient being was somehow different. It was what he imagined hearing the music of the gods would be like.

So entranced was he that Kuro barely registered as everyone agreed with Yorha's suggestion and dispersed to relax or get some sleep. He only came back to himself when the android picked him off her shoulders where he'd been riding and began examining him curiously.

This gives him a full view of the android as well and he suddenly becomes very aware of Yorha's beauty. A fact that left him _very_ confused. He's a _Slime_! Why would he find a humanoid attractive?

_Then again, my sapience seems to be a result of eating humanoids, so perhaps my sense of attraction stems from my food?_

It was possible at least.

"Is something wrong?" Yorha asked him curiously. "I can't quite put a finger on it but you're acting strange."

Nothing is wrong! Kuro wanted to form a mouth and scream instinctively but suppressed the urge. Barely. Instead, he just shook his slug-like head in denial.

"If you're sure." Yorha said with a soft smile that made her seem even _more_ beautiful and began stroking his head comfortingly. He leaned into her touch, only half listening as she continued. "But you have to let me know if anything is wrong, alright?"

_Her touch is just sublime._ Kuro thought to himself as he nodded distractedly, his mind consumed with the pleasure of being in the android's presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hope you guys liked this rather action packed conclusion to this 'book' of the story. I enjoyed writing it and it is my sincere wish that my readers get just as much entertainment from reading it.
> 
> For those of you who get where I'm going with the last scene, which I hope is most of you since I'm not being all that subtle, surprised? I've been hinting subtly at this direction for some time so hopefully it's not too much out of left field. For those who still don't get it… All will be revealed in time.
> 
> Speaking of time. That's all I have for this chapter. So till I see you again, la kon!


	17. Consolidating Power 1: Peaceful Coexistence

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Consolidating Power**

**Chapter 1: Peaceful Coexistence**

**Beta:**

* * *

Ever since the Supreme One, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown, had defeated the coalition of evil gods who dared invade Felmid and firmly established himself as the new rising power in Realmspace, the great one and his subjects had been busy consolidating his power. Demiurge, 7th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and Felmidian god of cunning and strategy, was no exception. As befit his new portfolio, the diabolic evil god focused his attention on strengthening Nazarick's ability to formulate plans against their potential enemies and this required intelligence on said future foes.

To that effect he'd set up various labs, that he'd taken to calling Menageries, to study the new reality's native flora and fauna. Demiurge had originally planned to set up Menageries across Realmspace but unfortunately due to Lord Ao's edict limiting Lord Ainz's realm of influence, besides a handful of locations outside Laerakond that he had been able to negotiate with the local powers to gain exceptions, his efforts had been largely limited to the continent on Toril that had been handed over to the Supreme One.

He was thus determined to make the most of it, to make up somewhat for the limits imposed on him. He thus took regular tours of the facilities to ensure that they were operating at their maximum efficiency. It was one such tour that brought the god of Nazarick to the Dragon Sea Menagerie.

Said facility was an underwater city made of coral and salvaged shipwrecks built into the former lair of a Kraken which Demiurge's forces killed and whose former owner had become the Menagerie's prized specimen. Staffed mainly by Felmidian mermen and with an attached infiltration unit of Doppelgängers, the base was located roughly equidistant from the five Dusk Ports.

Seated in the office of the Director located in the deepest portions of the Menagerie, Demiurge sat across from the head of local operations as he quizzed him on his progress.

"Mirelurk, how goes our infiltration of these so-called Dusk Ports," Demiurge asked the Menagerie's Director, a Felmidian merman with an overall humanoid appearance, fins that grew all over its body and slimy skin that prevented it from drying out if exposed to the sun.

Unlike the merman of Toril, Felmidian mermen took on different forms in accordance to the racial and job classes they took under the YGGDRASIL system. This differentiation allowed their bodies to become better adapted to their tasks but also had the minor downside of making them quite heterogeneous in appearance as a race. Mirelurk, for example, was a commander type hence his humanoid appearance whilst his specialty in amphibious operations had caused him to appear less fish-like and more frog-like.

"It proceeds apace," the amphibious creature said with a surprisingly cultured voice for his rather bestial appearance. "We should be in a position to acquire practically all intelligence flowing through the cities by the end of the month. Though if we intend to wholly subvert the cities to our cause, it'll take considerably longer."

"That won't be necessary." Demiurge told him with a wave of his hand. "Lord Ainz has no intention of claiming lands if he does not have to. Simply focus your efforts on intelligence gathering."

"As you command, my lord."

"Now then, how goes the collection and study of local flora and fauna?"

"We have finished cataloguing that of the immediate area though that does not say much."

"Oh? What do you mean?" Demiurge asked, feigning curiosity despite already knowing the answer.

If the subordinate he'd poached from Merwyrm sensed his deception he made no mention of it and simply proceeded to dutifully explain. "It was the Kraken, Lord Demiurge. It had laired here for centuries before we took it over and in that time managed to drive away much of the local wildlife. We'll have to go further afield to acquire useful specimens."

"A shame." Demiurge said with a genuine shake of his head. "But one that we counted on when we chose to evict the Kraken in the first place. On that note, have we learned anything worthwhile from its corpse yet?"

"Nothing of particular note, though we are making progress on deciphering the means by which it is able to conjure lightning storms."

"It is not magic or a skill?" Demiurge asked curiously. He'd presumed as such.

"It is, however, there appears to be a biological component to it as well. If we can decipher it, we might be able to duplicate the effect in some fashion. My artificers have suggested the possibility of lightning cannons."

"Fascinating." The devil god said with a genuine smile. The joy he felt at the thought of Lord Ainz's armies equipped with such weapons and the mayhem they would unleash on the Supreme One's foes was simply too great to suppress. "Devote as much resources as you need on that project."

"It will be done, my Lord." Mirelurk said with a polite nod.

"It seems you are doing well, Mirelurk." Demiurge said as he stood and his subordinate hurriedly followed suit. "Keep up the good work."

"I will, my Lord." The merman said with a deep bow.

"Then till next time."

With that farewell, he teleported away to the next destination of his tour.

* * *

"Lord Demiurge!" A lanky Twisted Warforged cried out in surprise as Demiurge teleported directly into his office inside the protective dome of heavily enchanted glass that was the Glaur Barrens Menagerie, located amidst the broken landscape of the plaguelands that the region had become with its floating chunks of earth known locally as earthmotes, mutable, boiling mud, immense zones of blue fire and a luminous, liquid blue fog that shrouded the whole area.

"Greetings Director Clockwerk." Demiurge said pleasantly as he gestured to his subordinate to dispense with the formal bow that the construct had half risen out of his chair to offer him. "I suppose you know why I am here?"

"To check on my progress?" The mechanical man asked rhetorically as he sank back into his seat behind the long metal desk that dominated his office. "You are conducting a tour of the Menageries?"

"Mirelurk sent word ahead?"

"Yes, my lord! All the Directors await your august presence."

"Do they now?" Demiurge said with a dark smirk that had Clockwerk shifting uneasily in his seat. The god of cunning had no ill intent towards his subordinates, but keeping them on their toes with subtle threats like this was always a good idea. That watching them squirm was thoroughly enjoyable was just a bonus.

"So," the Devil god said after a full minute of letting Clockwerk stew anxiously. "How goes the study of these strange lands you've been assigned? Recovered any artifacts of the Dawn Titan Nehushta which once ruled the area?"

"The surveys of the area is slow going, my Lord. The land keeps changing on us." Clockwerk confessed and paused waiting for a reply but Demiurge just waved at him to continue. "But we've at least began to understand the logic, such as it is, behind the changes."

"That is good. And the artifact recovery?"

"Only a handful of minor trinkets so far." Clockwerk said with a frown. "And I'm sorry to say that it's likely that we'll never find anything useful. Any such artifact has either already been plundered or destroyed by the effects the Spellplague had on this land."

"Unfortunate but expected." Demiurge said with a nod. "Moving on then. How goes the infiltration of the neighboring kingdom. Gonzel, was it?"

"Gontal, my Lord." Clockwerk corrected, earning a pleased smile from Demiurge. He'd made the mistake on purpose of course. It wouldn't do for one of his subordinates to be so cowed by him that they were unwilling to point out any mistakes he made. Such was the advice of the flawless Lord Ainz himself and Demiurge had taken it deeply to heart.

"Yes Gontal. So how goes your efforts?"

"Well, my Lord." The Twisted Warforged informed him with a grin. "Our Doppelgängers have successfully inserted themselves throughout the households of the nobility, even the highest ranking Twelvefold noble families."

Demiurge eyed his creation curiously as he watched with pleasure at Clockwerk's impressive expressiveness. All Twisted Warforged were his creatures, having been built and animated using techniques the god of cunning had learned from the study of a contingent of Warforged attempting to sail to the Dusk Ports aboard a Lantanese trade vessel and that his forces had discovered while setting up the Dragon Sea Menagerie. As such, he took great pride at every sign that they were as good as he hoped even in something as small as their ability to produce a passably Human facial expression.

"And the more long term plans?" Demiurge asked, letting none of his pride in his creation show.

The construct's grin just grew even broader. "Our takeover of the lesser noble houses proceeds well. If all goes well, our Doppelgängers will soon be in a position to marry into the Twelvefold in a few years and from there complete their subversion."

"And the Queen?"

"As you ordered, except for a handful of spies among her household we've limited our infiltration in regards to the royal family so to minimize the chance of her becoming aware of our efforts. Though I must ask, is that truly necessary my Lord?"

"Imreera Hethkantan is wily for a Human." Demiurge said with a shrug. "It would be wise to be cautious when dealing with her. Keep that in mind as you continue your efforts to sow dissent in her kingdom."

"Yes, my lord. And once we have driven Gontal to the brink, what then?"

"I have several plans." Demiurge admitted with a shrug. "We shall observe the exact circumstances at the time and choose which one to employ. Overall though, they will all serve to drive Gontal and its people into the embrace of the Supreme One."

"I look forward to the day the fools embrace the Bone Father."

Demiurge just nodded. He never did like the title that the Felmidians had bestowed on Lord Ainz. It was fitting yes, but he personally still preferred simply calling him the Supreme One. That said, Lord Ainz seemed to quite like the new title so Demiurge had kept the opinion to himself.

"Then work hard to bring that day closer to fruition, Clockwerk." Demiurge said as he stood.

"I will, my Lord." The Twisted Warforged said as he stood as well."

"Then I shall move on confident in your diligence, my creation." Demiurge told his subordinate.

"You honor me," the construct said with a bow only to raise and see his god had already departed.

* * *

Half-buried and its surface side structures entirely overgrown with plants was the Melabrauth Menagerie which catalogued the many and varied monsters and plants of the so-called Jungle Empire. Demiurge had limited interest in the site, seeing as the region's ruler, the dracolich Melauthaur, had not allowed the development of anything resembling settlements there was simply not much that he felt was worth studying in the area. That was not to say it was entirely worthless however.

"And this is the latest shipment of plants and fauna being sent to Aura, Mare and Melwood?" Demiurge asked the facility's Director, a Felmidian Treant that looked liked a fusion of a skeletal mage and an animated tree, as they stood on a catwalk overlooking a large **Gate** portal through which dozens of large crates full of specimens were being carried to Felmid by the Menagerie's treefolk staff.

"Yes my lord," Poison Ivy, the Director, replied. "As you commanded, we have been following the directives of Lords Mare and Melwood on what plants to collect and Lady Aura on which beasts to acquire."

"And they have been satisfied?"

"I have received no complaints."

"And you have managed to avoid detection by the Dragons?"

"For the most part," the Treant said with a nervous shuffling of its feet. "We've lost some teams but all indications are that the Dragons believe us to be little more than new things to hunt."

"They tend towards overconfidence like that." Demiurge agreed, even as he furrowed his brows in annoyance. The fool allowing her teams to be discovered by the Dragons could jeopardize their whole operation! That said, it did not seem that the situation was quite as dire as all that, so he reined his anger in as he replied. "But we should not follow in their footsteps. Be more careful."

"I will, my Lord." The Treant said, bowing low in apology.

"Do that," Demiurge said curtly before teleporting away and thus making his displeasure abundantly clear.

* * *

"Any differences with our own giants?" Demiurge asked as he appeared next to the humanoid creature made of basalt rock that was the earth elemental Pahoehoe that served as the Director of the fortress carved into the very sides of one of the Howling Mountains that was the region's Menagerie.

"They are entirely creatures of flesh and blood." Pahoehoe replied as he gestured to the corpse of a Giant that his fellow earth elementals and subordinates were dissecting in a large chamber his office overlooked. "Our Giants are partially elementals. The magic of the elements flows through their very veins."

"Disappointing." Demiurge said with a frown.

"Indeed, my Lord."

"Are the Orcs, Dwarves and other locals of the area more promising?"

"Biologically no." Pahoehoe said, before pausing significantly.

"But?" Demiurge asked, playing along.

"They are all scattered and isolated. Furthermore, our Doppelgängers report many are desperate and barely clinging to survival."

"Perfect fodder for someone who seeks to convert them to their faith and service." Demiurge observed. "You think this will be fertile ground to plant the seed of the Supreme One's faith?"

"I do." Pahoehoe agreed. "It is no surprise that Lord Ainz chose to make the avatar chosen to found his following in the image of one of the Humans of these mountains."

"There is truth there." Demiurge agreed. He had not seriously considered the reason behind that choice but now that Pahoehoe was pointing it out to him, it seemed obvious. "Very well. I shall make arrangements to have priests dispatched from Felmid to you. Deploy them as you see fit and convert these heathens to the proper faith."

"Lady Neia is unavailable?" Pahoehoe asked, blinking in surprise.

"The Supreme One has sent her to liberate and minister to the slaves of the Underdark." Demiurge informed him apologetically.

"Then the duty to convert Fimbrul falls to me. I shall not fail."

"I trust that you will not." The devil said with a nod of satisfaction before teleporting away.

* * *

"And expansion into the Underdark under Eskorn goes well?" Demiurge asked Gorzoth, the Abyssal Lord in charge of the Menagerie responsible for the Laerakond Underdark. The network of tunnels and caverns was too vast for a single facility to manage alone, so unlike the other Menageries Gorzoth's was not one base but rather a network of smaller outposts.

"The region is dominated by the generally pacifist Myconids so we have encountered little resistance there." His fellow Devil informed Demiurge as they sat across from each other in the Abyssal Lord's office in the human styled manor house he used as the administrative building set up in the center of the domed structure of his base of operations.

"Yet, in your last report you reported growing resistance to your expansion efforts."

"It is the Drow, my Lord." Gorzoth explained. "They have been aggressively expanding into Laerakond since the Spellplague deposited the continent on Toril and have not taken kindly to our own efforts to secure a place for ourselves in the local Underdark. They have been launching hit and run attacks of our forces. Last report they were focusing on Eskron."

"And now?"

"They have shifted their attention to the Relamur region."

"Frustrating, I'm sure." Demiurge said with a smirk. "But worry not, Lord Ainz has plans for dealing with slavers like the Drow."

"I see." Gorzoth said with a bloodthirsty grin. "I look forward to seeing his Chosen in action."

"As am I." Demiurge allowed. "But that'll have to wait. We still have business to conclude."

"Of course, my lord. You have new orders for me?"

"Yes," Demiurge nodded. "I want you to take over command of the doppelgänger infiltrators already deployed into Relmaur. With the kingdom's largely subterranean nature and close proximity to your own base of operations, I've decided there is no need for a separate facility."

"I obey, my Lord." The Abyssal Lord said with a deferential bow.

"You don't seem surprised."

"I had expected as much." Gorzoth admitted.

"Is that so? Then did you expect that I would give you command of the Skelkor infiltration unit as well?"

Gorzoth blinked in surprise for a moment before shaking his head. "Skelkor as well, my Lord? Wouldn't it benefit from a dedicated Menagerie of its own? It is a large and rich empire in its own right after all."

"Normally yes, but the Supreme One has plans for the so-called most powerful Dragon empire of Laerakond and personally told me that there would be no need for a Menagerie there."

Both Devils exchange knowing grins at that. Whatever plans Lord Ainz had for Skelkor it would surely be glorious to behold.

* * *

It was still riding the high of expectation for what his Lord would have in store for Skelkor that Demiurge materialized in inside the large, seemingly abandoned castle of the rather primitive style used by the local Humans that hid the Eskorn Menagerie.

"Greetings Lord Demiurge," a Momon in the guise of a blonde with clear purple eyes that looked like amethysts said as he stood from the throne at the head of the long table of the conference room in which the god of cunning had appeared and fell to one knee before him.

"Rise Director Jircniv." Demiurge told the undead Director of the Eskorn Menagerie. "You know why I have come?"

"Yes, my Lord. My men," here Jircniv indicated the various Momons and Doppelgängers standing by the various chairs of the conference table. All of them naturally appearing human so as to blend in with the inhabitants of Eskorn and the neighboring Sword Lands which also came under the jurisdiction of their Menagerie. "And I was just consolidating a report on our progress."

"Very good." Demiurge said with pleasure. "How efficient. I look forward to reading that report, but for now, give me a one line summary for your progress towards the total subversion of the ruling classes of both regions?"

This was supposedly a management trick that the Supreme Beings used to check on the efforts of their subordinates back in the other worlds they inhabited. Whilst it did not give one a very detailed image of what was going on, it _did_ give one a glimpse into the subordinate's perception of things. Combine that with a detailed report, it gave great insight into the matter. Truly a marvelous invention, as expected of the Supreme Ones.

"One line, my lord?"

"Yes Jircniv. Just one line."

"Hmm. If so, then," the Momon said ponderingly before he nodded and delivered his summary. "We should have completely replaced the entire ruling class of both regions with our agents by the end of the decade."

"So soon?" Demiurge asked sarcastically.

"It cannot be helped, my Lord. As you commanded, we are exercising extreme caution, my Lord." Jircniv said apologetically.

"That _is_ a priority." The devil god allowed. "We want the transition to our Lord's rule to be as smooth as possible."

"My Lord, if you would pardon me might I ask why we wish to behave so aggressively here? I understand that Clockwerk's efforts in Gontal are similar to ours but geared towards creating anarchy. Why are we seeking the take over of Eskorn and the Sword Lands?"

"Because you border Skelkor." Demiurge told him with a shrug. "And Lord Ainz has plans for that place."

Jircniv's eyes widened as he realized just what Demiurge was implying.

"I understand, my Lord." The Momon masquerading as a local lord said with a feverish determination in his eyes. "I will not fail the Bone Father."

"I have faith that you will not." Demiurge told the undead creature as he teleported away to his next destination.

* * *

Said destination was a new, well supported trading company located in the city of Imdolphyn that functioned as the primary front for the Menagerie of the Windrise Ports. Staffed entirely by Doppelgängers, the Menagerie was given a surprisingly benign remit in addition to its standard orders to collect noteworthy specimens of local plant and fauna. It was to use the considerable wealth of Felmid and Nazarick to subtly transform Imdolphyn not only the premiere port in Laerakond but in all of Toril so as to allow it to be used as a vector by which to spread the divine word of Lord Ainz.

"And how have the seas been treating our ships?" Demiurge asked the Greater Doppelgänger named Osk that was the Director of the Windrise Ports Menagerie. "Any mishaps?"

"Not as of yet, my Lord." The Director said whilst wearing the guise of a stout-bodied merchant, with hair cut so short that one could see his scalp. "The sea and winds have been kind so far. Though that might be because we have yet to launch any truly dangerous expeditions."

By that Osk meant the planned expeditions to the other continents of Toril. Whilst their little trading company front, rather amusingly named the Menagerie Trading Company, had more than enough capital to launch such ambitious expeditions - They had the wealth of all Felmid at their back after all - it would simply be too suspicious to do so. A new upcoming trading firm backed by mysterious anonymous wealthy investors raised enough eyebrows already, but one which proceeded to immediately embark on costly and risky trade missions? That would get too much attention. As such, they'd had to bide their time and establish themselves more conventionally first before carrying out the full extent of their plans.

Besides, they had plenty of time. The Supreme One's faith had not germinated yet and if the Menagerie Trading Company was to serve as its vehicle to distaff lands then they needed to wait for the tree to start bearing fruit before they could proceed.

"And has anyone been asking questions as to your backers?" Demiurge asked, redirecting the question.

"Some." Osk acknowledged. "There are many who suspect we are simply spies."

"Were they dissuaded by the backstory we concocted?"

"It has deflected most." Osk allowed. "Apparently they find that we are founded by a group of former adventurers from Faerûn surprisingly believable."

"As Lord Ainz predicted they would."

"He did?" Oska asked, his eyes widening in surprise.

"Indeed. In fact, the Supreme One produced the general outline of the story itself. Even those props you use," Demiurge said gesturing to a host of old weapons and armor that decorated Osk's office inside the trading house they'd rented for their operations. "Are from his collection."

_Lord Ainz had declared they were trash items and wastes of space in his inventory, but Osk doesn't need to know that._ Demiurge thought to himself. _Besides, they might indeed be those to the Supreme One but to us..._

"I did not realize." The Greater Doppelgänger said as he looked at the various items reverentially. "If I had known-"

"You would treat them like sacred objects." Demiurge said knowingly. "Which is what they are, but doing so would undermine your efforts at deception."

"Then why tell me now, my Lord?" Osk asked, tearing his eyes away from the gifts from Lord Ainz.

"Because you've proven your ability. In the month or so that your Menagerie has been in operation, it has been the most successful of them all. Admittedly, the others have been busy setting up shop and have more secondary objectives than you do. However, your success cannot be overlooked. Hence, I decided to tell you the truth and impart to you the understanding of just how highly the Supreme One values your operation."

"He would not give us such treasures if he did not feel it was essential that we succeed."

"Exactly." Demiurge told his subordinate. "So do not fail, Lord Ainz."

"On his sacred name, I swear that I will not." Osk replied solemnly.

"I will hold you to that oath."

* * *

Demiurge's last destination was outside Laerakond and one of the few Menageries he's set up on the continent of Faerûn. Specifically it was located in the Ride, the open steppe land situated between the Dragonspine Mountains, the Border Forest and the Gray Land of Thar. Just establishing this base was difficult and he'd only been able to do so because the land of cold plains was partially inhabited the Vaegould who worshiped of the primordials among whom they now rightfully counted Lord Ainz. Even then this Menagerie was meager at best compared to the others, being a collection of tents and manned by a small handful of Slivers, Momons and the latter's lesser undead servitors. It was supposed to be so much more but work in building a proper base had been slow.

"Lord Demiurge," the site's Director, a Momon whose human form was that of giant, bald man with half of his face and body covered with tattoos of various beasts, said as he walked over to greet him. "It is a pleasure to see you here."

"Save the pleasantries Zero." Demiurge told the man as he walked around the site and observed the limited progress in laying the foundation for a more permanent base. "I see construction has not been going well."

"Unfortunately not, my Lord." Zero confessed. "The attacks from the local tribes have been hampering our efforts."

"And the Vaegould have been unable to force their fellows to stay away?"

"They have tried but they lack the manpower to face the many tribes against our presence here. We've been forced to send some of our troops to aid them and in so doing-"

"Draw down your available manpower for the construction. I see." Demiurge noted with a frown. "This is problematic. I suppose we have no choice but to deploy more troops from Felmid and reinforce the Vaegould. Only then will our operations here be safe."

"You're a fool to believe that," a rasping voice said suddenly from their right.

Zero spun to its source in a combat stance and the Menagerie's other staff all stopped what they were doing to likewise tense for a fight. Demiurge in contrast just turned to the Lich avatar of the Archlich Vecna with a raised eyebrow.

"What pray tell are you doing here, Vecna?" Demiurge asked his fellow god.

"To register my complaint." Said the god wearing the avatar of a one eyed gaunt husk of a man with weathered skin pulled taut against his skeletal frame. He was dressed in tattered velvet robes with gold trim and was adorned with lavish gems, baubles and other jewelry.

"That we are operating outside Laerakond?"

"Hardly." The Lich said with a shake of its head. "If you had violated Lord Ao's edict in regards to your area of operation, he'd have intervened against you already. As an Interloper God I know how strict he can be about these things."

"Then what is your complaint?"

"One of my portfolios is Hidden Knowledge, did you know that?" Vecna asked, almost conversationally.

"Ah!"

"So you see the problem?"

"You are upset that we are seeking to unravel the secrets of Creation with our efforts?"

"Indeed."

"And what do you want us to do about it?"

"Stop?" Vecna suggested hopefully.

"I'm afraid I cannot do that." Demiurge said as he began summoning his Devilish hordes from Nazarick and Felmid to his side. God though he was now, he was originally created as a commander type and knew he could not stand alone against another god. Especially one of a higher level of power than himself.

"You're not the only one with an army, boy." Vecna said with a roll of his lone pale blue eye even as a horde of undead equal to Demiurge's own fiendish host appeared as if out of nowhere.

"It would appear so," the Devil god agreed with a frown. "Though I have my doubts that battle is a good way to settle our differences."

"It's how it's usually done." Vecna said with a shrug.

"And if I know a better way?"

"And what's that?" Vecna asked skeptically.

"Let us dismiss our armies and I'll show you."

"You first."

"Gladly." Demiurge said with a nod as he began dismissing his troops back to Felmid, followed a shocked moment later by Vecna sending his own undead legions away.

"So what exactly do you have in mind, young god?" Vecna asked once both their summoned armies were gone.

"Have you heard of chess?"

* * *

"Argh! How! How do I keep losing!?" Vecna cursed as Demiurge caught him in checkmate for the sixth time.

"That's six wins for me and none for you." Demiurge declared with a smile at the Lord of the Rotted Tower as he reset the chess set they'd set up inside one of the tents of the Ride's Menagerie that the two gods had been using to play. "In my favor. Do you retract your complaint as we agreed should you lose? Or should we extend this competition further."

"No. I've had enough." The Lich said with a scowl. "You win. I really just wanted to mess with you anyways."

"Is that so?" Demiurge said, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"You and your pantheon are new to Realmspace, did you expect anything less than some resistance from the rest of us old hands?"

"I suppose not," Demiurge said with a sigh. "Though I had hoped after we repulsed the invasion of Felmid that such interference would be kept to a minimum."

"It is. Count yourself lucky that no one has ordered their followers to declare a holy war on you and yours and seek to wipe you off the face of the Realm."

"I would like to see them try." Demiurge said dangerously.

"As would I. The death you and your master would reap on the fools would be glorious."

"And would empower you as well?"

"But of course." Vecna agreed with a smile full of rotted, yellow teeth.

"That said, I am glad we could avoid such an outcome between us."

"Agreed," Vecna said eyeing the chess set between them with amusement. "As frustrating as this game is, it is a so much more civilized way of resolving differences than open war."

"You're just glad you didn't inadvertently offend my master by declaring war on me."

"That too, I suppose." Vecna allowed. "Though I am serious about this game being a good way of settling differences. Perhaps I will use the idea myself. With a unique twist of my own, of course."

"Cursed pieces? Perhaps when a piece is taken, it is removed by the attacking piece by being smashed violently apart by the winning piece? You could tie the pain of the taken pieces to their user as well."

"Devious." Vecna said with a grin. "I like it."

"You flatter me."

"Friends?" Vecna asked suddenly and extending a hand. "I would like brainstorming ideas with you in the future."

"I would like that." Demiurge said as he shook the Maimed God's hand. "Friends."

The nasty grins the two gods exchanged saying more about their newly declared 'friendship' than any words could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> I hoped you guys liked this look at what Demiurge has been doing while Ainz was sending his avatars/children gallivanting through Laerakond's Underdark. He was setting up the foundations for Nazarick's peaceful coexistence with the people of Toril. Or at least his version of it.
> 
> Well, that's it from me this chapter. Till next time kwaheri!


	18. Consolidating Power 2: Forging Peace in Wildspace

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Consolidating Power**

**Chapter 2: Forging Peace in Wildspace**

**Beta:**

* * *

Inside a command centre built on the surface of the planet of Glyth filled with various computers and holographic displays, Cocytus met with Deathwing and the Silver Queen to discuss their campaign to set up Sliver colonies on various uninhabited celestial bodies across Realmspace. The planet having previously been rendered lifeless by Atropus was a perfect base for their efforts now that Lord Ainz had killed the undead Primordial.

"The. Majority. Of. The. Dwarves. Will. No. Longer. Be. A problem." Cocytus reported to his colleagues. "Though. We. Must. Continue. To be. Wary. Of. Rogue Dwarves."

"That is good enough." Deathwing said with a pleased nod of his huge draconic head. "With this, we've secured peace with most of the major spacefaring powers in Realmspace."

_A great achievement indeed._ The Sliver Queen agreed. _Though I am curious. How_ did _you manage to get the Dwarves to agree to peace?_

"I. Pointed out. That. We. Were. Only. Claiming. Uninhabited. And. Previously. Unclaimed. Bodies. And. That. Their. Contesting. Our. Claims. Was. Dishonorable. Claim-jumping." The god of warriors and honor said with an amused clack of his mandibles. "It. Was. A. Surprisingly. Effective argument."

"I am sure it was, Cocytus." Deathwing said, rolling his eyes. "And I'm sure that the fact we'd recently ravaged a large Dwarven fleet which had sought to contest our control of Glyth did not affect the persuasiveness of your argument at all."

"It. Might. Have." Cocytus admitted, amusement tinging his frigid tone.

_If only we'd had such luck in our dealings with the Neogi and the Illithids._ The Sliver Queen chimed in, her telepathic voice tinged with slight disapproval at her colleagues' taking their conversation on a tangent.

"Sadly. They. Are. Not. Open. To negotiation."

"Agreed." Deathwing said with a frustrated growl. "Things would be so much easier if they were. However, there is no need to fret. Everything is well in hand."

"So. They. Have. Responded as. We. Expected?"

"Yes," Deathwing said with a smug grin. "A large collection of them have gathered together with the intent of forming an alliance against us as we expected."

_Do we know their muster point?_ The Sliver Queen asked, radiating eagerness.

"Our doppelgänger agents report there are several."

Cocytus mulled over what Deathwing said and clicked his mandibles in irritation. "That. Means. We. Must. Split. Our. Fleet. To. Attack. Them. All. This is. Not. Optimal."

"We make do with what we have." Deathwing said with a shrug. "Besides our plan is still viable, even with the limited number of ships at our disposal."

_I can make up somewhat for our lack of ships._ The Sliver Queen suggested.

"Are you sure?" Deathwing questioned skeptically.

_I am._ The Felmidian Lady of Beasts assured the god of the vacuum.

"Then. We. Shall. Look forward. To. Seeing. Your. Forces. In action." Cocytus said, cutting off any possible counter from Deathwing who frowned but otherwise accepted the rebuke with grace.

"Yes, we shall." Deathwing allowed. "And our enemies will tremble before our might."

* * *

Determined to put his grand statement into action, Deathwing commanded a fleet of conventional Felmidian ships as they moved to assault the main enemy concentration point around Locci, an airless rectangular moon dotted by craters from meteor impacts in orbit around the 'planet' of Garden, one of Glyth's neighboring worlds.

"That's an impressive fleet they've amassed. They outnumber us two to one." The Green Dragon serving as his executive officer said. She had taken the form of a lithe and curvaceous elf woman with pale white skin and bright green hair the same color of the scales of her true form. She was dressed in a professional looking uniform that consisted of a dark navy blue suit coat and skirt, a white shirt and neck tab.

She looked beautiful and if Deathwing was not on duty he'd be tempted to court her and invite her to be one of his mates. Sadly he was and such pleasures would have to wait.

"It is too small an advantage to make a difference, Ysera." Deathwing said, waving the hand of his own human form dismissively. "Are we in firing range?"

Ysera turned to the Dragonspawn manning the tactical control station. The centauroid creature with a humanoid torso with long, thick arms, a scaled reptilian head and a draconic lower body with four legs and a tail, examined his station for a moment before nodding back.

"We are, my Lord." Ysera informed him accordingly.

"Very well. Fire at will." Deathwing ordered. "Cleanse wildspace of these fools who dare oppose the will of our Lord Ainz Ooal Gown!"

Having detected the approach of his fleet for some time, the enemy fleet of Neogi and Illithid ships had slowly been moving into an intercept formation. There was no haste to these efforts however as by their reckoning the Felmidian fleet was still a considerable distance away and they would have plenty of time to prepare for their arrival.

They reckoned wrong.

Well outside of what the Neogi and Illithids had imagined possible, Deathwing's ships opened fire and their own vessels died as his mass driver rounds and the particle beams from his cannons blasted apart their ships in droves.

"Enemy ships are attempting to close the distance." Ysera announced as the enemy finally began to properly respond.

_Not that it would help them._ Deathwing thought with a decidedly bloodthirsty grin.

"Maintain distance." The Dragon god ordered. "All they have on their pathetic vessels are catapults and ballistas or the odd cannon. Our weapons have an insurmountable range advantage and I want to exploit it for maximum effect."

"Yes, my Lord." Ysera replied dutifully as she relayed his orders.

Watching as enemy ships died one after another, Deathwing shook his head in disgust.

"This is a complete turkey shoot." He said with a disappointed sigh.

_I was hoping for at least_ some _challenge._

"What do you mean, my Lord." Ysera asked, tilting her head in confusion. It was a gesture more suited to a draconic form where their facial expressions were more limited and they had to rely more on body language, but it nevertheless worked well on her elvish form as well as it gave her an adorable quality.

"It is a saying from Old Earth," Deathwing explained, letting none of his attraction show. "It derives from the hunting of a bird known as a turkey which was apparently very easy under the correct circumstances. It means an opportunity to very easily take advantage of a situation."

"Fitting," the Green Dragon said with a nod.

"Indeed," Deathwing agreed. "Boring though. I wish I could go out there and burn them with my own breath."

"My Lord, remember your restrictions." The lesser Dragon said warningly. "You are a god now. You cannot simply exercise your power as you like. There are rules you must follow or you'll create trouble for the Supreme One."

Normally if any of his subordinates spoke to him like that, Deathwing would have him punished for insubordination. However, he'd specifically tasked her with reminding him of his restrictions if he forgot so she was exempt. As a result, all Deathwing could do was sigh in resignation and continue to watch the slaughter of his enemies.

"My Lord," the Goblin operating the sensors shouted suddenly. "The enemy are beginning to flee."

Deathwing sat up at that. _Finally_ , he had something to do!

"Proceed as planned." The Lord of the Felmidian skies said. "Have the wings break up into wolf packs and hunt down. Do not let them escape!"

"Yes, my Lord." Ysera said at once as she began barking the appropriate orders to be relayed to the fleet so as to carry out his will.

That this offered Deathwing a nice view of the shapely posterior of her humanoid shape was an added bonus.

_I'm_ definitely _mating her when this is all done._ The god of the vacuum thought to himself as he continued to admire the view.

* * *

Whilst Deathwing was having an easy time of it at Locci, the Sliver Queen was watching through the eyes of some of her newest children as they swam through the void towards the Skull of the Void and the Illithid colony that dwelt in the enormous skull that floated at a fixed position in Realmspace.

To make up for the lack of ships available to them, the Queen had engineered two new breeds of Slivers to function as bioships that were propelled through the void through the sheer power of her Swarm's psychic will and their faith in the Supreme One. The first and most numerous of the two were the Kraken Slivers. Crafted using the genetic material of their namesake gathered by the efforts of Lord Demiurge, these new Slivers had bodies roughly thirty feet long that maintained the upper body of their kind and a lower body that consisted of a ring of tentacles surrounding a large fang filled maw. Many of the tentacles of these Krakens were in turn armed with various bioweapons such as acid batteries and hypersonic spine launchers, making them incredibly deadly predators of the vacuum in their own right.

They however did not operate alone and hundreds of them swarmed around the three massive kilometers long forms of the massive Leviathan Slivers. Similar in appearance to the Kraken, the Leviathans were however covered in segmented stone-like carapace and were studded all over with clusters of bioweapons.

Perhaps it was their unexpected arrival. Or maybe it was their alien appearance. Whatever the case, the appearance of her fleet on approach to the Skull came as a shock the Illithids and Neogi gathered around it and they struggled to scramble a response as it closed.

_Just as I hoped._ The Sliver Queen crowed as she watched the palpable panic that swept across the enemy fleet as her own swam ever closer.

Lacking the range of the weapons of Deathwing's ships, the Sliver Queen was forced to close to more standard engagement ranges. This allowed the enemy to effectively open fire with their ballista, catapults and cannons, but her agile Krakens easily evaded the attacks and the fire barely dented the thick carapace of her Leviathans. In contrast, her acid batteries and spine launchers dealt death wherever they struck and her children's tentacles ripped, crushed or otherwise destroyed any enemy ship they wrapped around.

Within moments of the start of the fight, the battle had become a slaughter and enemy ships, especially those of the Neogi, began to flee only to be hunted down by packs of the fast swimming Kraken and destroyed. Meanwhile, the Leviathans used their size to batter their way through the collapsing enemy formations and towards the Skull itself where they proceeded to jam their largest tentacles directly into its gaping eye sockets and open up muscular airlocks across these tendrils from which a swarm of their more conventional brethren proceeded to surge into the strange structure's depths in the hunt for its Illithid inhabitants.

_It is a bad day to be an Illithid._ The Sliver Queen mused happily as her children began butchering the Skull's Illithid population in the name of Lord Ainz.

* * *

Not all was going well for the forces of Nazarick however. For as the news spread, probably through magical communication, of their preemptive attack, untouched elements of the enemy coalition decided it meant that Glyth was vulnerable and had showed up en masse to attack it.

Commanding the defense of the world, Cocytus winced as he observed the tactical display in the planet's command center. Just as it had been for days now their meager defense fleet, consisting of both conventional Felmidian ships and the new Sliver bioships, were grossly outnumbered. And by an ever growing margin as more and more enemy forces trickled in.

They'd been holding out fine for days but as more and more enemy ships arrived, drawn in as if moths to a flame, the increasingly battered defenders were steadily being overwhelmed. The only silver lining was that they seemed to not want to risk a direct engagement yet and limited their attacks to small hit and run attacks. At least that was the case before now. Now, seemingly deciding they had the numbers for it, they'd decided to press the attack at last and were making a beeline towards the planet.

"Should we send the defense fleet to attempt an interception?" The local commander and his temporary second-in-command, a Momon named Baziwood that had the human guise of a bearded middle-aged man with blue eyes and blond hair, asked.

"No. They. Would. Die. For. Nothing." Cocytus said grimly. "Pull. Them. Back. Have. Them. Retreat. Beyond. The. Fourth Ring."

"Through the assigned corridor?" Baziwood asked with a knowing grin.

"Exactly." Cocytus said, with an anticipatory click of his mandibles and a hiss of frigid breath.

Baziwood's grin turned into a smirk and he began barking the necessary orders. Meanwhile, the god watched as they translated into the markers on the tactical display moving in an orderly retreat down a highlighted section of the planet's Fourth Ring. More importantly, the display showed the foolish enemy was falling for the trap and had begun chasing after the retreating defense fleet.

"Wait. For it." The Vermin Lord said as he watched the enemy continue their pursuit. In their eager haste, the ragtag enemy had completely lost all cohesion, their formations falling completely apart and the fleet becoming little more than a blob of targets.

"Now!" Cocytus ordered as the enemy fully entered into the killzone of the hidden static defenses they'd built into the many tiny asteroids that made up Glyth's fourth ring.

At his command, these defenses revealed themselves. From hundreds of concealed burrows emerged swarms of Acid Cannon Slivers and Spine Launcher Slivers who shot their payloads at the enemy with abandon. Similarly, dozens of hidden missile, mass driver and particle cannon emplacements opened fire and reaped a deadly toll.

Within minutes, a hopeless situation had been completely reversed and hundreds of Illithid and Neogi ships burned.

"Send. In. The. Defense fleet." Cocytus said once the enemy fleet was whittled down into more manageable numbers. "Have. Them. Mop. Up."

"Yes, my Lord." Baziwood said eagerly as she rushed off to relay the god's orders.

_This was too easy. There was no challenge._ The god of warriors and honor thought with a dissatisfied shake of his head. _No matter. What_ does _matter is that I do the will of the Supreme One and I am certain that this action pleases him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> A short one this time.
> 
> I was tempted to write a longer campaign that included more battles but thought better of it. It would have become a whole 'book' in and of itself and that was not what I was aiming for. As such I trimmed it down to this. I hope it wasn't too much of a disappointment.
> 
> Well, that's all I have to say for this chapter so till next time agur!


	19. Consolidating Power 3: Training an Army

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Consolidating Power**

**Chapter 3: Training an Army**

**Beta:**

* * *

Enri Emmott, goddess of battle, sat across from Lady Shalltear at a wrought iron table shielded from the sun by a large umbrella located on a raised platform of concrete as they overlooked a small city of tents housing the ever growing number of liberated slaves sent to Felmid by the Bone Father's children from the Underdark of Laerakond. A host that the two of them had been tasked by Lord Ainz to train into an army.

"Before you say anything," The Bone Father's Consort said suddenly as they both absently picked at the food. As undead and goddesses besides, neither of them actually needed it for sustenance but it was the thought that counted and both seem unwilling to disappoint the servants who had prepared the meal. "Let me just say that I have no clue about training an army and am frankly bewildered why I was even given the task in the first place."

_Surely Lady Shalltear is not suggesting Lord Ainz made a mistake. No, that can't be it._

"Perhaps Lord Ainz wants this to be a learning experience for you, my Lady?" Enri suggested carefully to her superior.

"Call me Shalltear." The Vampire said with a shrug. "You may not be a Guardian of Nazarick but my beloved has elevated you to godhood like he has the Floor Guardians, that makes you our colleague and peer. There is no need for formality between peers."

"You honor me, Shalltear." Enri said tentatively and received an approving nod from the sliver haired beauty.

"As for your suggestion," The Vampire said with a shrug. "I suppose it's possible. Though if it is true I would loathe to jeopardize the army's training just to learn something. From private conversations with Lord Ainz, I know that he wants that to be done well. And while I'm certain he's factored any mishaps I might make into his calculations, I would like to avoid creating any complications if possible."

Enri barely heard the latter part of Shalltear's statement, instead being hung up on something she said in the middle.

_By private conversations does she mean pillow talk!?_ The Momon turned goddess' mind thought rather treacherously as she fought to hide the blush that accompanied the errant idea from the Supreme One's Consort.

Though by the mischievous, almost predatory, look that Shalltear sent her way, she was not successful. Thankfully, the more senior goddess kept her teasing to that.

Regathering herself, Enri offered a suggestion to resolve her colleague's worries.

"Then why don't I take charge of the training. I do have some familiarity with the task. You can shadow me as I go about my tasks and step in whenever you feel comfortable."

"Very well." Lady Shalltear said with a pout. "It's not like I can think of a better way to do things."

* * *

It was following the junior goddess' advice that led Shalltear to find herself accompanying Enri as they paid a visit to Sliver Hive to discuss what weapons and other equipment could be secured for their new army.

"-a dozen light tanks? That's all you can spare?" Enri asked incredulously. "That's barely enough for a battalion, much less a whole army!"

_Apologies, my Lady._ The strange fusion of four normal Slivers into a single creature that functioned as the Hive's overseer, a Sliver Overlord, replied telepathically. _But we are still making up for the losses from the invasion. Between that and the resources transferred over to the expansion of the space fleet, it is truly all we can manage._

"Enri," Shalltear said interrupting the other goddess' reply. "Can you handle this? I'd like to explore this place."

Enri frowned probably guessing correctly that her request came from her getting bored and rightfully fearing what trouble she could get up to if left to alleviate her boredom on her own. She knew full well how much of a handful she could become if left to her own devices for too long. For all Shalltear's flaws, a lack of awareness of them was not one of them. Albedo and Aura were all too happy to remind her of them at every opportunity after all.

"Don't worry." The vampire goddess assured the Momon. "I won't cause trouble."

Sighing Enri nodded and offering the junior goddess a grateful smile, Shalltear stalked off.

The Hive's factory floor was a fascinating place. Slivers worked diligently as far as her eyes could see, a considerable distance indeed, at various stations along a seemingly endless number of conveyor belts that snaked every which way through the structure as they assembled various items that the Hive manufactured.

_Here we're building new laser-_ Said a blue Sliver sporting many tentacles across its body that had accompanied her as it caught her looking.

"Stop." Shalltear told the creature. "I don't need a lecture. I probably won't remember half of what you'd say anyway. I just want to have a look that's all."

The Sliver bowed its head in understanding and apology but Shalltear just waved it away.

She continued her tour, thoroughly impressed by the speed that the Slivers worked and the sheer variety of things they could make. They could assemble a tank from its constituent parts in under an hour and at the same time build enough rifles to equip an entire battalion of infantry. It was hard to imagine that they were so behind schedule that they could not spare the equipment for their army. Not that she thought they were lying. No Felmidian, Shalltear had learned, would dare lie to her beloved or his representatives. That they'd said so had more to do with the sheer devastation their forces had suffered due to the invasion by the dark gods than anything.

_Wonder how long we'll take to recover from that._ The Vampire thought with a shrug as she watched a group of Slivers run a newly completed tank through some quality control tests. _Albedo would know I guess. I'll ask her about it later._

* * *

"So logistics isn't to your taste?" Enri asked rhetorically as she and Lady Shalltear reconvened several hours later at the same platform overlooking the tent city housing the freed slaves that were supposed to become their new army. It had grown a whole new section while they were away, a product of the Bone Father's children's latest successful raid against the slavers of the Laerakondan Underdark.

"No," Shalltear said rather succinctly. "I know enough about myself to say that I can't handle _anything_ to do with backend of this army. Any suggestions on what else I can do?"

Enri hummed as she mulled the matter over. If what Shalltear said was true, and she was inclined to trust her, then strategic planning and organization development were out of the question as well. As were most things to be honest. What then _could she_ do?

"How about training?" Enri offered, feeling like she was running out of options.

"I don't know the first thing about how someone can get strong." Lady Shalltear confessed. "I was created strong."

"That's not what I meant." Enri lied. "I meant you could serve as the recruits' OpFor."

"OpFor?"

"Opposing force." The former Momon explained. "The recruits will likely need to face overwhelmingly superior opponents at some point or another. What better way to prepare them for that than to have them do exactly that in a controlled environment beforehand?"

"That actually sounds like a good idea." Lady Shalltear said, humming in thought. "What _exactly_ do you have in mind though."

"Let me explain-"

* * *

A month of planning and training of the men later, Shalltear was _finally_ given a chance to prove her worth and found herself hovering in the air in her full armor over a large underground cavern they'd borrowed from Baragon for Enri's experiment of her playing at OpFor.

_Remember, Shalltear, these recruits are pretty raw_. Enri told her over **Message** from where she was preparing the men who were to be her opponents in the mock battle. _So go easy on them._

"I'll try." Shalltear said through gritted teeth.

She'd wanted to whine or scold Enri. The girl had told her the same thing seven times now! But she knew that the junior goddess was saying it for her own good. Shalltear dearly wanted to make this work and going overboard wouldn't help that.

_Alright. Then I'll send them in now._

"I see them." Shalltear replied as she spotted the unit of soldiers cautiously advancing into the cavern. They hadn't spotted her yet despite her making no effort to hide herself which was a major mark against them that she would have to reprimand them for later. But that was for later.

"I'll start the exercise now. Shalltear out." She said as she cut the **Message** spell and prepared to trounce the former slaves who would be soldiers of her beloved Lord.

* * *

"So the troops are saying that they actually like your exercises." Enri told Lady Shalltear a few days and a dozen exercises later as they met up to review things over tea in the latter's Adipocere Chamber on the Second Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick. Studiously ignoring all the while the sound of women laughing and moaning lewdly in the background. "They say it's a real learning experience."

"Is it?" Shalltear asked doubtfully. "They didn't seem happy about the trouncings I gave them after I was done with them."

"Of course not," Enri told her with a chuckle. "You did beat them silly. And easily too. No one likes that in the moment. But they _did_ appreciate things in hindsight."

"Really?"

"Really." Enri assured the skeptical Vampire.

"Oh. So I'm helping?"

"Definitely." Enri told her sincerely. "Very much so."

"I'm glad." Shalltear said with a sigh of relief.

Enri shook her head in fond exasperation. For someone who was otherwise so confident about everything, Lady Shalltear was very insecure about whether she was being a help to Lord Ainz's plans.

_Which is strange when I come to think about it. Lady Shalltear is not shy about sharing all the affirmations Lord Ainz gives her in private and that's a lot. Why then is she still so insecure?_

"I know what you're thinking." Lady Shalltear said sounding uncharacteristically embarrassed, even sporting a blush.

"Y-you do, my Lady?" Enri stuttered out uneasily.

"Relax. It's not a big deal." Lady Shalltear said with a shrug. "It's not like I'm a _complete_ idiot. I know that I confuse people with being confident one minute and insecure the next. At least you're not calling me bipolar like Aura."

"I would never!" Enri cried honestly. Shalltear wasn't _that_ bad.

"I know. I know." Lady Shalltear said with a sigh. "And just to avoid misunderstandings, Aura was just teasing when she said that. Her creator was my creator's elder sister, that makes us cousins. As such she teases me all the time."

_I didn't know the creations of the various Supreme Ones see each other that way._

"I didn't know that."

"Now you do." Lady Shalltear said with an amused grin. "Anyways, about me being all over the place. It's because, well, I want to be more. More than a simple brute! My beloved has such grand plans for everything. You should hear him when he gets going. And I want to help him accomplish them but-"

Shalltear trailed off and Enri waited patiently for her to continue but she never did.

"But what?" Enri asked after the silence dragged on too long for her tastes.

"But I know I can't help him much." Shalltear admitted with a sigh. "If he needs something killed, I can do that easily enough. But that's only a small part of the things he needs done and I can't do anything else. Not well at least."

"That's not true!" Enri shouted insistently. "It's true you have your limits Shalltear, but you have your strengths too. And not just as a killer!"

"I'm a minx in bed as well. Even kinkier than Albedo." Shalltear added with a smirk. "Lord Ainz said so."

_Too much information! I didn't need to know that!_

"Not my point but yes, if Lord Ainz said so then it has to be true!" Enri said hastily as she fought a blush before calming herself down a bit and getting to her point. "What I meant to say was that you can do things that help Lord Ainz besides killing his enemies and, um, helping to warm his bed."

"Such as?"

"Like I said earlier, you're a great help in training the soldiers."

Shalltear hummed noncommittally at that and Enri scrambled to reassure her.

"It's true." Enri told her seriously. "But if you don't believe it, then why don't we prove it?"

"How?"

"We have tomorrow's exercise be with a unit that's already been through an iteration of it." Enri suggested. "Let them show you how much stronger they've become after going through the learning experience of fighting you once."

"If you think it's a good idea." Lady Shalltear said uncertainly.

"I do."

"Alright then. Set it up."

* * *

Two nights later in the Nazarick bar, Shalltear sat across from Albedo sharing some drinks. Much to their disappointment, their beloved husband had chosen to spend the night going over reports from Demiurge and Cocytus over the progress of their missions and had not called either of them to his bed. Instead, ordering them to spend some time relaxing while he worked. It was a generous offer but neither woman had any idea how to spend it and had as such defaulted to spending time with each other.

"So Enri tells me your little army is coming along nicely." Albedo said as they both took seats at one of the bar's tables and were served their drinks by one of the Homunculus maids whose turn it was today to serve as one of its waitresses. "Thank you, Foire."

"Yes, thanks Foire." Shalltear said as well taking the glass of Sous-chief's ever improving Nazarick ten-colored cocktail made with ten different liquors.

The young woman with yellowish bobbed hair and green eyes bowed in return before quietly taking her leave.

"I guess you're right." Shalltear said in answer to Albedo's statement. "But I honestly can't really tell."

"What do you mean?" The succubus asked, pausing in taking a sip of her sake to glare at her sister wife. "Aren't you regularly fighting against them in training exercises? Surely, you'd be able to gauge their growing competency and strength?

"I suppose they _are_ growing better." Shalltear said with a shrug. "But they're _so_ weak that I barely notice the difference. I fought a couple of units for a second time today and even though they got stronger thanks to me training with them, they still lost. Badly. I know he must have some kind of genius plan for them, but I honestly don't understand why Lord Ainz wants them trained."

"Are you questioning our husband's wisdom?" Albedo asked warningly.

"Of course not." Shalltear scoffed. "Like I said. _I_ can't see his plan."

"Is that so?" Albedo said with a chuckle. "Did you need Aura to spell that out to you?"

"Enri did actually." Shalltear said, puffing out her cheeks in annoyance.

"Did she now?" Shalltear nodded and took a sip of her drink. "I hope you thanked her for the observation."

"Of course I did. I'm an idiot _not_ a unmannered." The Vampire said with a roll of her eyes.

"Then did she tell you what she thought our beloved's plans for the freed slaves were?"

"She asked me to think on it on my own but I have no idea."

Albedo sighed but nevertheless explained.

"Tell me what is a god without mortal followers? Especially in Realmspace?" The Pure-White Devil said. "Nothing. And while Lord Ainz is a primordial. He is also a god. As such creating a cult among mortals was always part of Ainz's plans, it's why Neia is an Evangelist."

"But the mortals I've been training have all thoroughly been inducted into our beloved's cult already. Why train them to be soldiers too?"

"Why they're to be the nucleus of a mortal nation devoted to him of course!" Albedo declared as if it was obvious. "After all, the next step up from a cult is a _nation_ dedicated to him is it not?"

Shalltear just looked at Albedo in shock. _She hadn't even thought of that!_

"This is why he calls you a genius." Shalltear said with a shake of her head.

Albedo blushed. "He gives me too much credit. I'm certain this is only one small part of his plans and there are many aspects that I've yet to decipher."

"Maybe but you're still better at it than me." Shalltear lamented.

"And I'm not as kinky as you." Albedo said with a shrug. "We each have our own strengths."

"I guess." Shalltear allowed, lifting her glass. "To our strengths."

"To our strengths." Albedo echoed as they clinked their glasses together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Another short one. I'm thinking this is going to be the norm for this 'book'.
> 
> Now about this chapter… I hope you guys liked this little dive in how Shalltear is dealing with her lack of intelligence in this story. In canon, it took getting herself mind-controlled into fighting Ainz and the whole experience in the Dwarven Kingdom for her to mostly overcome/confront the issue. Here she doesn't really get the same kick in the butt to motivate her to do so, so she's less gung ho about the whole thing. But with Aura and Albedo to nag her about it and her observations about her subpar performance at tasks, I reckon she'd still work towards improving herself. Hence this chapter.
> 
> Well that's it for this chapter. Till next time pożegnanie!


	20. Consolidating Power 4: Founding a Church

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Consolidating Power**

**Chapter 4: Founding a Church**

**Beta:**

* * *

Carne was an average village with no real importance in Eskorn, a human kingdom located in eastern Laerakond. The main livelihood of the villagers came from the collecting various forest goods from the woods that surrounded the village and their crops. It was wholly unremarkable. Yet it was the place that Lord Ainz had pointed to on the map of the continent when Sebas Tian had asked his advice on where he should found his cult. Admittedly the Supreme One had seemed distracted at the time but the god of duty was certain that even then his Lord's wisdom was infallible, hence why the Iron Butler found himself observing the small town from the sky.

"What a quaint little village." Maleficent, the Paeliryon devil from Lord Asmoedeus' own court, that had been sent to assist Sebas' efforts commented. "Are you sure this is where your Master suggested you begin your cult?"

"It is," the dragonoid confirmed to the twisted perversion of the female form that was his compatriot.

She was wider than she was tall, with an incredibly distended belly that hung well below her waist. Her warty skin was a combination of pink and green, and contrasted sharply with the black robes she wore. Robes that did little to contain the billowing stench of perfume, brimstone, and odorous oils that exuded from her body. From her back grew a pair of heavy, bat-like wings that allowed her to fly, if clumsily, despite her girth.

"Well, I suppose he must know something that we do not." Maleficent said with a shrug. "Shall we make a tour of the town before we begin?"

"In that guise?" Sebas asked skeptically.

"Of course not," the devil said with a chuckle even as her form shifted. In moments, gone was her corpulent true form and in its place was a tall, slender, pale-skinned woman clad in a black-and-purple robe with bat wing-like edges, underneath her robe, she wore a dress with the same color pallet but with some red instead of purple. In her right hand, she held a staff with a glowing green orb at the tip.

"Is that not still somewhat ostentatious?" Sebas asked, eyeing her elaborate dress and clearly magical staff.

"Not for a wandering Wizard." Maleficent said with a smirk. "In contrast, your outfit is more eye catching by far, my Lord."

Looking down at his traditional butler's uniform that his creator, Lord Touch Me, had granted him, Sebas frowned.

"I see your point." He grudgingly admitted. "Should I change it?"

"No," Maleficent said with a shake of her head. "You want to stand out."

Sebas considered this for a moment before nodding. The Devil was correct. If he wanted to convince the locals of his godhood and the wisdom of following the ideals of Lord Touch Me than he would need to appear beyond them. A perfect example that they should model themselves after. Standing out, as the Devil put it, was a good step in that direction.

"Very well." The god said. "Let's get down there."

* * *

It was a market day in Carne it seemed and a number of merchants had brought their wares to the small village to trade. This attracted people from all around the immediate region to the village, bringing with them their own goods. It was thus quite the lively atmosphere as Sebas and Maleficent walked through the streets. The two seemed to make quite the sight and the humans, locals and merchants alike, parted before them muttering about a high lord and his Wizard bodyguard.

_I had not expected us to be treated as such by the locals._ Sebas confessed to the Paerliryon via telepathy as they stood at one corner of the central village square that had been converted into a marketplace and watched the humans as they carried out their affairs all around them.

_Oh? And how did you expect to be treated, my lord? I did mention you would stand out did I not?_

_You did. But I had not thought the humans would so easily see me as a high lord. My attire is that of a servant, not a lord._

_Perhaps. But do these uneducated humans know that? All they see is a man in impeccable clothing. Clothing that in their minds only the greatest of lords can afford. Considering that, are their conclusions truly so strange?_

_I suppose no- What is the commotion over there?_

The pair's conversation and people watching was interrupted by a ruckus taking place on the far side of the market, where a man on horseback dressed in armor over some elaborate clothes and flanked by two soldiers with pikes was watching as another pair of soldiers dragged a beautiful blonde woman towards him. All around the scene townsfolk looked on helplessly.

"Let my sister go!" A younger, brown haired girl shouted as she raised a simple wand and began channeling magic for some kind of spell. Unfortunately, she hadn't finished her casting when two more armored men appeared out of the crowd and seized her, one of them knocking her wand out of her hand and disrupting her casting in the process.

"Take her as well," the man on the horse said. "I always enjoy breaking the feisty ones."

"No, Lord Heivish! Please just take me!" The blonde beauty shouted urgently. "Leave my little sister alone!"

The human Lord just gestured at this men holding the blonde and one of them produced a rag which he promptly proceeded to shove into the protesting girl's mouth as a gag.

"Fool girl," Heivish said with a shake of his blubber padded face. "I'll be taking the both of you. Having a pair of sisters service me at once is great fun after all. I'll be looking forward to having you two entertain me."

_Looks like that human lord over there is taking those two girls for his harem._ Maleficent informed Sebas rather unnecessarily as Heivish broke into a lustful laugh. It was unnecessary for Sebas was already on the move.

_Lord Sebas! What are you doing!?_ The Paeliryon cried out urgently as Sebas weaved his way through the crowd.

He didn't even need to use his new divine powers. Though the crowd of angry but helpless onlookers were tightly packed, there was enough space between the humans for a skilled individual to slip through the gaps. For someone of Sebas' skill, it was child's play.

As he was blurring around Heivish's soldiers and knocking them out, all the humans saw was a black and silver blur until he came to a stop next to the gagged blonde vision. As he stopped, the various humans he'd disabled all collapsed as if they were mere puppets and just had their strings cut. Ignoring that and Heivish's cry of alarm, Sebas gave his full attention to the stunned young woman as he gently pulled the gag out of her mouth.

"Are you well, miss?" Sebas asked as he tossed the gag to the side.

The girl could only nod numbly as she gazed at him with wonder in her brilliant turquoise eyes. She was so entranced that she barely noticed as her younger sister barreled into her side, knocking her over and hugging her desperately. Even sprawled on the ground she did not look away.

Sebas for his part just offered a gentle smile to the beauty before turning to face Heivish.

"Leave." He demanded, causing the man to quiver fearfully in his saddle as he surveyed the sight of his half dozen men lying unconscious on the ground.

Unfortunately, he seemed buoyed as another squad of a half dozen of his men rushed over.

"W-Who are you?" The human said, his voice betraying his lingering fear. "I am Staffan Heivish, lord of these lands. How dare you interfere in my affairs?"

"My Lord dares because he is strong." Maleficent said as she arrived on the scene, a **Fireball** spell already crackling at the tip of her staff. "For is it not the duty of the strong to protect the weak?"

Heivish looked at the **Fireball** fearfully, before looking back at Sebas and paling.

"Y-You'll pay for this." He managed despite his obvious fear. "I'll be back with more men and make you regret this, y-you upstart!"

With that Heivish rode away as quickly as his horse could carry his corpulent body and his men hastily followed, carrying their unconscious comrades as they did. For a moment there was silence as everyone watched them run away like dogs with their tails between their legs, but as soon as they were out of earshot the townsfolk burst into cheers.

"Thank you! Thank you, My Lord!" The beautiful blonde said as she rushed over with her sister, seemingly having gotten over whatever shock had consumed her earlier. "My name is Tuareninya Veyron and this is my sister Norininya. Thank you so very, very much for saving us. Ask anything of us and we will be glad to offer it to you in thanks."

"Anything, girl?" Maleficent asked leadingly and earning herself a harsh glare from Sebas when the younger girl paled.

The lovely blonde blushed but hastily corrected herself. "Anything within reason."

"Then perhaps we can enjoy the hospitality of your home tonight?" Sebas suggested, making sure to shoot his Devilish companion a glare to ensure she maintained her silence. "My bodyguard and I have yet to secure our lodgings for the night and doing so will save us the hassle of doing so. That would be more than recompense enough."

"Gladly, my Lord. Gladly." Tsuareninya said with a brilliant smile, before hastily turning to her sister. "Ninya, go prepare the house for our guests. Make sure everything is as clean as you can make it."

"Right away sister!" The young Wizard said as she rushed off.

"If you'll follow me, my Lady, my Lord." The older sister said with an unpolished but respectable curtsy.

"It would be my pleasure." Sebas said genuinely and allowed his host to lead them to their lodgings for the night.

* * *

Neither Sebas nor Maleficent truly needed sleep so it was that after a simple but pleasant home cooked meal, they'd retired to the Veryons' small bedroom and just sat there discussing their plans whilst the two sisters, the only occupants of the home since their parents had passed a year ago, made do with sleeping on a layer of hay they'd dragged into the dining room that made up much of the small area of the house.

"That was inspired of you, my Lord." Maleficent praised once they were sure the sisters were asleep and they could speak freely. They could have relied on telepathy or magic to hide their voices, but why resort to such things when the same privacy could be achieved with simple patience. "Intervening like that has established you as a hero in the minds of the locals and a perfect opportunity to begin disseminating some of your dogma to them."

"That was not why I intervened." Sebas insisted.

"No, but the results are the same." The Paeliryon waved his reply away. "And that's what matters."

"The ends do not always justify the means." The god said, his eyes narrowed.

"Relax, my lord." The Devil said with a chuckle. "I know my place. My mission is to assist you in establishing your cult. Doing anything that you would consider underhanded would be detrimental to that, considering your Lawful Good alignment. So I'll refrain. I do know how to control myself."

Sebas did not trust the Devil. Not entirely. He had however been ordered to work with the fiend so he just nodded and issued a warning. "That best be true, Maleficent. For if I find you harming the weak in my presence, I will end you."

"Even against your orders to cooperate with me?"

"Lord Ainz included an exception in my orders for circumstances where you crossed the line."

This startled the Devil and she looked at him in disbelief for a moment before chuckling. "So he truly as cunning as they say. I must say I'm impressed."

"You doubted my Lord's wisdom?" Sebas asked dangerously, his fists clenched and ready to punish the devil for her insolence.

"More surprised at the depths of it." The Paeliryon deflected easily enough.

Sebas shot her a warning look but otherwise relaxed. Her answer was acceptable, if only just barely.

"Oh! It looks like Heivish is back, just like we expected." Maleficent said suddenly, cutting into the tense silence between them. "Shall we proceed as planned?"

Sebas knew a redirection when he saw one, but the devil wasn't lying about the foolish human lord. Through the local omniscience of his avatar he could sense Heivish's return, this time at the head of a small host of his men.

"There are barely a hundred men." Sebas noted. "Is it really necessary for me to use my divine power?"

"If we want to properly establish you as a god? Then yes." The devil said with a frustrated roll of her eyes, understandable since she'd been repeating this point constantly. "I know you can destroy it without it, but you need to leave an impression on the mortals."

"Very well," Sebas said with a resigned sigh. "Play your part in the village while I handle them. And do not forget to protect the Veryon sisters."

"As you command, my Lord." Maleficent said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

Sebas mistrusted it but it did not seem malicious, so with little more than a frown of displeasure he teleported away to confront Heivish.

* * *

Staffan Heivish had been the lord of this land for years and was the latest in a long line of Lords Heivish that had ruled it for generations. Despite that he knew his grip on his lands was tenuous at best. They were not rich and he thus could not maintain much in the way of men at arms with which to control the peasants. Add that to the foolish, unfounded resentment that they felt for him exercising his rights to their women made his control even more fragile. Thus he simply could not allow the humiliation he'd suffered in Carne that afternoon go unchallenged.

Which was why instead of enjoying the carnal pleasures of his harem like he did most nights, this night instead found him riding at the head of his household guard as they headed to Carne to avenge the insult he'd suffered. With almost a hundred heavy infantry and a dozen armored horsemen at his back, Staffan was certain that not even his attacker from the afternoon or his pet Wizard would stand a chance.

Speaking of that Wizard. Just the thought of breaking her and having him under him as he plunged himself into her depths had him salivating. He couldn't wait to have her at his mercy and in his bed.

"You are an utterly disgusting excuse for a human being." The voice of the terrifying attacker from the afternoon reached Staffan's ears, pulling him from his lustful fantasies.

Standing before him and his host on the road to Carne was no less than the target of his ire. A village that a distant part of Staffan's mind noted was stirring to unexpected life as one by one lights began to pour out of its various houses. That barely caught his attention however as it was instead drawn to the man blocking their path, who was looking at him with utter disdain. A look that sent a shiver of fear down Staffan's spine but which he instantly repressed in lieu of barking orders to his men.

"Kill him!" He shouted, uncaring of how he looked as his spittle flew everywhere.

His men did not move, instead by the sound of the clinking of their armor they were shaking in fear.

"W-What are you fools doing? He's just one unnamed man! Run him through!" Staffan shouted at his soldiers, desperately trying to spur them into action.

It was futile. They remained unmoving, gripped as they were in some unknown fear emanating from the man before them.

"Man?" The elderly man in the immaculate but strange clothes said. "When did I ever say I was a man?"

Dread settled into Staffan's bones and he turned pale faced to the creature before him.

"I-If you're not a man, t-then what are you?"

"I'm glad you finally asked." The thing said with an amused grin even as he was surrounded by a nimbus of raw power, the sheer presence of which forced everything in its vicinity to their knees. Staffan's horse was no exception and he was thrown off, but despite the pain of the fall he found himself jumping to his feet involuntarily before immediately falling before the creature in supplication.

_What is going on? What is he!?_

" **I am Sebas Tain!"** The thing said, his voice booming supernaturally all around Staffan. " **I am a god of Nazarcik. The god of duty. And I find you Staffan Heivish and these foolish men who follow you guilty!"**

_Guilty!? Guilty of what?_

" **Guilty,"** the self-proclaimed god said, as if reading Staffan's mind. " **Of abusing the weak for your no reason other than you own pleasure. Such is an unconscionable offense in my eyes and considering the extent of your crimes deserving of only one fate: Death!"**

Many of Staffan's men cried out for mercy at this, but he did not. Using all his will, he fought against the powerful forces controlling his body and looked up at the supposed god with a defiant glare. He was Staffan of House Heivish! He would not allow anyone, Dragon or God, to pass judgement over him! In his own lands no less!

Unfortunately for the arrogant lord, if the god even noticed his defiance, he cared not a whit for it and with a casual wave of his hand, Lord Staffan Heivish and all his household guard crumbled away into dust. And so heirless despite his womanizing, House Heivish ended with the death of its final lord. Its once proud history soon to be completely forgotten. The god of duty would make sure of that.

* * *

Back in Carne, Tsuare stood at the edge of town with her sister at her side and the rest of the townsfolk all around her as they watched the god destroy their hated lord. For years, Staffan Heivish had been terrorizing them, using his title and the band of thugs he called his household guard to oppress them and steal their womenfolk for his perverse entertainment. Thus as they saw his demise, they felt nothing but joy.

"Look closely people of Carne," Maleficent, the god's companion and the woman who had awoken the entire village to see the spectacle, said with fervent enthusiasm. "See the might of the god of duty. Observe the power of Sebas Tian! Is he not your liberator from oppression? Is he not worthy of your worship?"

The townsfolk murmured among themselves. The people of Eskorn, of Laerakond in general, had little experience with gods. Dragons those they knew. Tyrants with immense power that sought to enslave them all if they could. Primordials those they dimly remembered. Beings of great power that had been brought low by Dragons. But what was a god?

Tsuare didn't understand how or why but even as the thought crossed her mind, the answer flowed from her lips.

"Yes, he is!" She shouted, stepping before her fellow villagers, her extended family. "He who liberated us! He who will protect us so long as we have faith in him! He who protects the weak from the needless abuse of the strong! Sebas Tian is my god!"

Maleficent looked at her with satisfaction, but she believed already so Tsuare paid her no mind. Instead her focus was on her fellow villagers. She had to make them see the truth of things. She had to!

"He's mine too!" Ninya said loyally as she came to stand beside her sister. "He saved us both from Heivish. And he protects us even now. I don't know what a god is, not truly. But if Sebas Tian is not a god, then I do not know what else could be!"

"Ninya is correct!" Tsuare said, her tone imploring. "He will protect us when we are weak! He will guide us to strength! He will use his divine power to ensure that all get their fair share! Do you not want the patronage of such a good god?"

The murmuring among the townsfolk intensified for a moment before a man stepped forward. It was too dark to see who it was clearly, but Tsuare did not need to know who he was to understand what he was.

"He is my god!" The man, her new brother, shouted and Tsuare offered him a welcoming smile.

A smile she gave all her new brothers and sisters as one by one the people of Carne accepted their new god.

* * *

A few days later, Sebas and Maleficent watched from afar as the townsfolk put the finishing touches on their shrine to the god. It was a simple structure of hewn timbers that had been built in a miniature imitation of Nazarick's central mausoleum that was roughly twice the size of an average house in the village and was just large enough to house its population all at once. It completely failed to capture the Great Tomb's beauty but Sebas nonetheless appreciated it for the effort his new faithful had put into its creation.

"This was too easy," the Paeliryon, now in her grotesque true form, said with a shake of her head. "Convincing a bunch of peasants in a backwater town to worship a god which literally came down to save them? Even the lowest Devil could manage this. Worse, I didn't even do most of the convincing."

"You nevertheless have my thanks." Sebas told her honestly.

"Thank the Veryon girl." The Devil said gesturing to Tsuare as she walked around thanking the villagers for their help in building the temple. She was now dressed in a black dress with white trim, with a full knee length skirt, a white half-apron trimmed with ruffled lace. It was a far cry from her old peasant dress and was a gift from Sebas himself as a symbol of her new office as his priestess. "She received your divine inspiration and did most of the convincing."

"I did not know I could do that."

"Not surprising." Maleficent said with a shrug. "Gods can only do that to their faithful and before her you didn't have any. By the way, can I just say that I'm entirely unsurprised that you chose her as your priestess?"

"She _is_ the first to believe in me."

"And the mutual attraction between the both of you had nothing to do with it?" The Paeliryon said teasingly. "You hid it well, but I've had plenty of experience working with Succubi. I've seen the stirrings of lust and attraction in even the subtlest forms."

Sebas said nothing.

The Devil scoffed at failing to get a raise out of him, but continued. "It's not my business but fair warning. Be careful siring half-bloods with the girl. They can get messy, Just look at the mess with those Bhaalspawn."

Annoyed at Maleficent's barbs and unwilling to give any sign of just how close to the truth they were, Sebas teleported back to Nazarick to report the success of his mission to his master. In the process, he completely failed to see the Paeliryon's smirk of amusement at his expense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> I hope everyone liked how I decided to bring in the Veryon sisters into my verse. I liked them both, especially Tsuare. The relationship she develops with Sebas in canon is fascinating, even if I'm unsure if you could call it a romance. So I decided to homage it with this chapter and since I'm a romantic made it into more of a traditional romance.
> 
> Some might ask where the hell is Sebas' attraction to Tsuare in the chapter that Maleficent mentioned in the last scene. Well, as she said it's subtle. Just look at what Sebas consistently calls Tsuare and you'll get it.
> 
> Well, that's all from me for now. Till next time, au revoir!


	21. Consolidating Power 5: Fleet Expansion

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Consolidating Power**

**Chapter 5: Fleet Expansion**

**Beta:**

* * *

Whilst Deathwing and Cocytus were out campaigning with much of their existing space fleet, Pandora's Actor found himself back on Zeus working hard to expand the fleet. Fortunately, he was not working alone.

"Let me outline our problem to you all." The Greater Doppelgänger said to his audience consisting of Aura Bella Fiora, Mare Bello Fiore, Baragon, Merwyrm and Malwood. "It takes months, years even for our bigger ships, to construct ships in the traditional Felmidian style thanks to the slow rate of production of the various sophisticated systems like reactors, anti-gravity drives and engines. Far too slow for us to rapidly expand our fleet like we require. As such, mein fellow Guardians, with the approval of mein Vater I have decided to instead build spelljammers native to Realmspace and make them the majority of our new fleet."

"Wouldn't they be too weak?" Aura asked with a frown. "I mean, it's good to have more ships I guess but it would defeat the purpose if the new ships are just crap, wouldn't it?"

"Well observed oh goddess of beasts." Pandora's Actor said with a dramatic pose that much to his displeasure just caused the twins to cringe and even Malwood to frown. Ignoring the poor reaction to his posturing, he continued. "But we can ameliorate much of the problem by simply cladding the ships in sheets of mithril and adamantite mined from Felmid's Underdark and equip them with our mass driver and laser weapons."

"You will have all the metal you need." Baragon assured the creation of Momonga. "And the Sliver Queen has assured me that her Hive factories will work double time to provide the weapons on schedule."

"Much appreciated, Baragon. And please share my sentiments with the Sliver Queen as well."

The Lord of the Underdark nodded his agreement.

"Hey Pandora's Actor, where is Queenie anyway?" Aura asked, with a worried frown. "Shouldn't she be here too?"

"She could not be here, Lady Aura." Merwyrm explained. "She is helping Lords Cocytus and Deathwing with their campaigns in Wildspace."

"Ah. I get it." Aura said with an enthusiastic nod that showcased her youthful vibrancy.

"Ano, Pandora's Actor," Mare asked hesitantly, raising his hand to indicate he wished to speak.

"Yes, mighty god of nature."

The dark elf blushed at the praise but soldiered on. "Uh. So your new ships, they'll still mostly be made of wood?"

"Observant of you, mein young friend." Pandora's Actor said with a nod. "That is why I have called you, Merwyrm and Malwood here."

"But why not build them entirely of metal?" Malwood chimed in. "Would the ships not be sturdier that way?"

"Perhaps," the god of treasure said in agreement with the Lord of the Wood. "But it would make the cost of construction unreasonably high and limit the rate at which we can produce new ships. Compromising and making the core of the ships wood and covering their exterior in metallic armor plating allows us to build ships in numbers and at a pace that more than makes up for the loss of each ship's survivability."

"A better cost benefit ratio? I see." The Treefolk said with a nod. "I should have expected nothing less from the god of treasure."

"You honour me," the Greater Doppelgänger said with a gracious bow.

"But we're still building the old school Felmidian ships aren't we?" Aura asked. "We saw a couple under construction when we arrived."

"Of course," Pandora's Actor affirmed. "They are still the most powerful type of ships available to us. I am simply reserving our limited production capacity for such construction to the most valuable vessels of the type, dreadnoughts and battleships. They will serve as the flagships of mein Vater's navy."

Aura nodded in acceptance. "Okay, I can guess why you'd need help from Mare and Malwood. They'll be the ones providing you with the wood you'll need. But why call me up here?"

"That is because, mein fellow Guardian, I would like you to help me with something special."

* * *

"So you both know the plan?" Mare asked Merwyrm and Malwood as they convened on the banks of the Amazon river.

"I and my Treefolk are ready, my Lord." Malwood reported confidently as he gestured to the numerous treants and other Treefolk that stood waiting by the banks.

"As my minions." Merwyrm added as a dozen ghostly nymphs made out of the river water danced in the waves behind him. "We will provide all the fresh water you need."

"Alright." Mare said with a pleased nod. "Then I'll get us started. **Power of Gaia!** "

With the invocation of his spell, Mare conjured an entire forest's worth of trees and other flora directly out of the cleared patch of ground along the river banks. More importantly, his spell enriched the depleted Felmidian soils of the land with nutrients. As soon as the spell's effect ended, Malwood's Treefolk surged into action and began cutting the trees down and processing the wood into lumber.

"Naiads. It's your turn." Merwyrm declared five minutes later as the Treefolk with the help of their powers had almost finished processing the freshly planted forest.

"Yes, Lord Merwyrm." The nymphs said in a distorted, gurgly voice as they used their powers to direct the river water into streams that snaked across the land and rehydrated the soils.

They all waited until the last of the Treefolk finished and stepped back, before everyone looked to Malwood. For his part, the Lord of the Wood was already gathering his power. It thus took only a few minutes for the forest to restore itself to its former verdant growth. At which point, the Treefolk descended upon it once more.

"Looks like everything worked out exactly as we planned." Merwyrm said, sounding pleased. "And we can move on to scaling this method up."

Mare ignored the Lord of the Seas for a moment, instead choosing to lean down and pick up a clump of soil to examine closely by rubbing it between his fingers.

"Yeah, I think so." The dark elf said as he cleaned his hands with a thought and nodded in satisfaction. "The nutrients in the soil should last a couple hundred renewals before I'll need to refresh it again. So the plan will work."

"Very good, my Lord." Malwood said with a pleased shifting of his bark. "I will summon more of my subjects immediately and we can begin expanding the area dedicated to the tree farms."

"My minions are already awaiting your order, my Lord." Merwyrm said, shooting Malwood a look at the Lord of the Wood and earning himself a glare back in return.

"Right." Mare said, ignoring the byplay between his subordinates.

_They'd sort it out between themselves. Letting them do it is much easier than getting involved myself._

"Let's scale this up." The god of nature said instead. "We need to provide Pandora's Actor as much wood as we can grow. For the glory of Ainz Ooal Gown!"

"For the glory of Ainz Ooal Gown!" Echoed every creature of Felmid within earshot.

* * *

"So you gonna tell me what I need to know now?" Aura asked the small eight-legged creature akin to a cross between a wolf spider and an eel that was being held firmly under one of Fenny's paws. "How do you lot make spelljammer helms?"

The creature looked fearfully between the pile of bodies made out of many of its kin and their Umber Hulk slaves and the giant black wolf with bright fur and crimson eyes that kept it pinned.

"I don't know!" The Neogi squealed. "I really don't!"

Why was Aura inside a Neogi settlement in the middle of nowhere in Realmspace torturing one of the xenophobic slavers and plunderers? Well, Pandora's Actor had asked her to help him acquire the secret of building spelljammer helms from either the Arcane or the Neogi. And after some consideration, she settled on targeting the Neogi. Lord Ainz would disapprove if she targeted the strictly neutral Arcane and unnecessarily earning their ire after all. So using her beasts, she'd captured a neogi spelljammer production asteroid instead.

Aura pouted at the disappointing answer from her captive.

"That's too bad." The dark elf told the liar. And she could tell it was lying too. Being a goddess came with plenty of nifty new tricks. "If you'd told me the truth, it would probably haved saved you a lot of pain. Oh well! Demiurge, I guess I'll just have to leave the rest up to you."

"Much obliged, Aura." The well dressed Devil said as he appeared out of nowhere. "You have my assurance that I'll crack the secret behind spelljammer helm production in no time at all."

"I'm sure you will." Aura said confident in her fellow god's abilities. He was, after all, one of the three greatest minds of Nazarick. "Then I'll be taking what helms I've recovered back with me first."

"Very well." Demiurge nodded, before smirking playfully. "Have a safe trip."

Rolling her eyes at her fellow Floor Guardian's idea of a joke, Aura whistled to her beasts and waited for them to gather back together before teleporting them and herself back to Zeus high up in Felmid's atmosphere.

She rematerialized in one of the massive shipyard's empty storage bays and found Pandora's Actor waiting for her.

"Good hunting, mein fellow Guardian?" The Greater Doppelgänger asked in lieu of a greeting.

"Pretty good." Aura said as she gestured to her beasts to hand over the two dozen working helms she'd managed to secure over to the mix of Goblins and Dragonspawn that made up the Zeus staff waiting to receive them. "The Neogi's chief engineer is with Demiurge right now?"

"Demiurge? Not Neuronist Painkill?"

"He'll bring her in if he needs it," Aura said with a shrug as she watched the Zeus staff scurry off with the acquired helms. "You know that Demiurge has been the one heading up our efforts to learn more about Realmspace. It just makes more sense to let him take charge of this too."

"I suppose you're right." Pandora's Actor allowed, sounding a touch disappointed.

"You're just afraid he'll upstage you." Aura accused.

"Nein. Nein." The god of intrigue denied with an overdramatic wave of his hands. "I merely worry that he is overworked. Mein Vater has expressed such concerns about us Guardians on more than one occasion."

"Lord Ainz did?" Aura asked, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Ja. Mein Vater is very concerned about our well being." Pandora's Actor told her. "He worries about us constantly."

Aura felt her heart flutter happily at the thought and she couldn't help the wide grin that spread across her lips.

"I, um, don't think you need to worry." Aura said after taking a moment to compose herself. "Demiurge can handle it."

"I am sure of that. But mein Vater will still worry, even if he knows there is no need. Such is the way of Vaters or so he tells me."

_Fathers!? Lord Ainz sees us all as his children?_ Aura also swooned at the revelation and it took all her will just to keep standing. _I need to change the subject!_

"Uh, so what's gonna happen to those helms I got?"

Pandora's Actor shot her a knowing look but did not call her out on her abrupt redirection of the conversation.

"Some will be set aside for examination and experimentation." The Greater Doppelgänger said instead. "The rest will be installed on some of our completed hulls and used to test the limits of our designs."

"Sounds like you could use more."

"I would not complain if there were indeed more helms."

"Then I'll go get some more." Aura said with a decisive nod. "See you in a bit!"

Without waiting for a reply, Aura teleported herself and her beasts away to another Neogi shipyard. If Lord Ainz was gracious enough to think of them as his children then it was only right for her to do everything in her power to make sure she was worthy of such an honor.

_And I'll start by beating the crap out of these no good slavers._ The goddess of beasts thought as her whip lashed out and bisected a Neogi and its Umber Hulk mount at once even as her pets fell upon the shocked and confused aberrations all around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> It's short but it did what I wanted it to so I'm not complaining. Hope you guys liked it.
> 
> The chapter is pretty self-explanatory, so this is it for me this post. Till next time abschied!


	22. Consolidating Power 6: Preparations for War

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Consolidating Power**

**Chapter 6: Preparations for War**

**Beta:**

* * *

Ainz stepped into Gargantua's forge and surveyed the set up that the 4th Floor Guardian of the Great Tomb of Nazarick had built. Housed inside of a large cavern of the Underdark not far from Nazarick itself, the newly minted god of stone had used its new powers to smooth the walls to a mirror finish. That is with the exception of a large pool of magma at one corner of the perfectly cuboid chamber next to which stood a massive adamantite anvil and a rack of blacksmithing equipment that were appropriate to the aforementioned metal block's size. On the far side from the magma pool was an elaborate furnace which could heat things well beyond even the temperatures of the magma and stacked neatly into piles next to the currently dormant structure were ingots of various metals.

"Gargantua," Ainz greeted the formerly unintelligent golem. "I see you have put my boon of skill at the forge to good use. Should I perhaps also grant you the portfolio for such?"

"You honor me Lord Ainz," the god that now wore the face of Suzuki Satoru said with a humbled expression. "I would not ask for more than what you've already generously granted me."

"Is that so?" Ainz said with a chuckle, even as Albedo nodded in satisfaction from where she stood respectfully behind him and on his right. "Well, if your efforts prove successful than you might just gain the portfolio naturally. If you do, accept."

"If that is your will, my Lord. I shall gladly do so."

"Now then, why don't you show me what you've been working on?"

With assistance from the Sliver Queen and Baragon, Gargantua had been busy using his mastery of the earth as the god of stone alongside the skill at the forge granted to him by his use of one boon that Ainz offered him, and had burned a small portion of his captured divine essence to grant, to begin work on an array of divine class items for the other gods of the Felmidian pantheon. The golem had pointed out that not all of them had equipment of the level and that he would like the honor of attempting to rectify this oversight.

Ainz had doubts he would succeed. Not because he would be unable to forge divine class items but due to the various Guardians' attachment to the equipment loving produced by and granted to them by their creators. That said, not all the gods of the Felmidian pantheon were Guardians and not all Guardians, like Gargantua himself, possessed much in the way of equipment. And even those that did surely could benefit from some divine class items to augment their existing arsenals. Ainz had thus reasoned that the god of stone's efforts had a reasonable chance of at least enhancing the strength of Nazarick and after outlining his concerns to the golem, had allowed him to proceed.

"At once, my Lord." The gargantuan golem said as he gestured to a pair of more human sized earth elementals that looked like a set of rocks piled up in the rough shape of a humanoid and given life. The two animated rock piles immediately rushed off somewhere but in the meantime, Gargantua produced a pair of armored gauntlets with a large revolver built midway up the forearm from the sealed space of his inventory.

"I call them the Revolver Knuckles." Gargantua said proudly.

_A rather unimaginative name._ Ainz thought. _Then again not all names can be creative. I'm looking at you Warrior Takemikazuchi! Seriously!? Why did you keep naming your primary weapon Takemikazuchi!?_

"It looks impressive," Ainz told his subordinate, letting none of his exasperation at the name show. "What does it do?"

"At its most basic it significantly boosts my attack strength." The weapons' creator said. "But more importantly using magical power I've stored in the revolver sections, I can use these gauntlets to unleash various effects."

"An external store of your power?" Albedo asked, looking at the weapons curiously. "Is it necessary?"

"Against mortals probably not." Gargantua said, outlining his reasoning behind his creation. "However against other gods? I would think so. I am not a god of magic by any stretch of the imagination, thus having a store of magical power that I can use to stretch my reserves will be useful."

"A prudent precaution." Ainz opined, noting the thoughtful look of Albedo's face. Judging by that alone, he wouldn't be surprised if the various gods under his command all soon sported external reserves of their power as part of their standard equipment.

"Ah! My minions have returned." Gargantua said as the two elementals from earlier reappeared carefully carrying a pair of items. One was holding onto a mannequin upon which was mounted a set of full plate whilst the other cradled a long box. "I have not had the time to finish much else but I have finished the equipment I would like to offer Enri."

As a mere Momon of Felmid and not a Guardian of Nazarick before her elevation, Enri's equipment was rather meager in comparison to her peers. She didn't even have the natural resilience and strength that Deathwing possessed by being a Dragon. As such it was only fitting that Gargantua prepared his gifts to her first.

"Good of you to think of Enri first." Ainz said approvingly. "It is very considerate of you."

"Thank you, my Lord." Gargantua said with a humble bow.

"Let us see that armor first." Ainz said, gesturing for the elemental to bring the mannequin closer.

"I call it the Regina Proelium (Battle Queen) Armor." Gargantua informed them as his subordinate obeyed Ainz's wordless command and placed it directly in front of their Supreme Ruler.

The armor had a breastplate emblazoned with the symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown with a waistguard composed of two hanging plates that were paired with a ruffled cloth sprouting from under it over some chainmail, all of which were surmounted by a long skirt which would reach down to Enri's knees and covered the rather featureless greaves. The skirt featured white frills along its edge and a blue banner hanging down from her waist with his symbol once more in gold. The gauntlets, covering the entirety of her arms, were largely unadorned with only her pauldrons, composed of overlapping plates, having some golden decorative markings in the shape of avian wings over the upper plates with similar wings appearing over the footwear. The entire armor set was complemented by a velvet cape that was tucked under her pauldrons, which possessed a white fur finish and a gold frilled edge.

"It is very ornate." Ainz observed. "What is its properties?"

He could have used the **Appraisal Magic Item** spell or one of its variants to learn all he wanted to know but it was more polite to simply ask its creator.

"It boasts formidable defensive capabilities whilst also providing substantial bonuses to the commander type abilities that Enri favors."

"Albedo, your opinion?"

"The defensive boost is substantial, my Lord." His Consort told him after running a finger carefully over the armor. "I can feel it."

Ainz nodded. "And the boost to Enri's favored set of abilities is thoughtful and useful. Overall, it is quite well done."

"I thank you for the praise, Lady Albedo, Lord Ainz."

Waving Gargantua's response aside, Ainz gestured at the box. At this the elemental holding the mannequin moved it out of the way and his counterpart stepped forward.

"A sword?" Ainz asked as the elemental opened the box for his inspection to reveal a sword sitting on a pillow of soft velvet. It was a curved cavalry sword that would not have been out of place on the battlefields of the American Civil War. The biggest difference however was that all along the flat of the blade were a host of runes that glowed with stored magic.

"I call it Coram Imperio (Commanding Presence)." Gargantua explained. "And it follows the same logic as Regina Proelium in serving the item's function, in this case it's prowess as a blade, whilst also boosting Enri's command type skills."

"You even chose to emulate her favorite type of sword? You really are thoughtful in your efforts." Ainz said as he nodded and turned away from the blade, causing the elemental holding it to respectfully back away. "I, for one, am satisfied with your work and am sure that Enri will appreciate it as well."

"It is my honor to be of service to you and my fellows, my Lord." Gargantua said with a respectful bow.

* * *

"Victim? What _are_ you doing?" Ainz asked as he teleported alone to the blasted plain outside the ruins of the Rome Arcology where the 8th Floor of the Great Tomb of Nazarick and god of sacrifice and binding had taken up residence for the past few days.

Days in which Ainz had been receiving confused but disturbing reports as to his activities. Reports that as Ainz surveyed the piles of malformed and rotting flesh that dotted the already hellish landscape of the glassy plain filled with craters seemed to have some merit.

"Ah! Ol tabaan! Ah matb pardons! (Ah! My lord! A thousand pardons!)" The bright pink fetus with an angelic halo above his head and featherless stick-like wings on its back said in Enochian as he spun around to face Ainz and offered a deep apologetic bow. "Ol uls ge fafen de trouble g g ol experiments. (I did not mean to trouble you with my experiments.)"

"And what experiments are you conducting exactly?" Ainz asked, glancing at a nearby pile of fetid pink flesh meaningfully. "And does it have anything to do with these piles?"

"Apologies lap a mess, ol tabaan. Ol shall clear par farzm ca soon ca ol'm uls. (Apologies for the mess, my lord. I shall clear them up as soon as I'm done.)" Victim said spinning around in a circle nervously as he looked at the many piles of meat, as if noticing them for the first time.

"They are not a problem." Ainz told his Guardian kindly. "Now tell me what experiments are you conducting?"

"Excuse ol tardiness, master. Allow ol de explain. (Excuse my tardiness, master. Allow me to explain.)" Victim said with another apologetic bow. "Ol seek de qaal, ol tabaan, ah new race c Angels g ol image g a lel sacrificial allar bab ar ol as originally created g. (I seek to create, my lord, a new race of Angels in my image with the same sacrificial binding ability that I was originally created with.)"

_He's trying to create a new race? That's ambitious._

"And these are your failed attempts?" Ainz said pointing at the mounds of rotting flesh. "What were they lacking?"

He already had an idea but it was best to get confirmation. He did not want to seem foolish in front of his subordinates by being mistaken.

"Par lack a sacrificial allar bab. (They lack the sacrificial binding ability.)" Victim replied, confirmed Ainz's suspicion.

"I am not surprised." Ainz told the Angel with a sigh. "Granting you that ability was not easy and took a lot of effort in carefully choosing your job and racial classes and syncing them with the specific items you possess. It is not something that would be easily duplicated. If this was what you intended, Victim, you should have approached me directly."

Looking chastised, Victim bowed his head low. "Ol lava g iehusoz, ol tabaan. Ol merely gil de capimali oi c ol own. De surprise g. (I beg your pardon, my lord. I merely wanted to achieve this on my own. To surprise you.)"

"I appreciate the thought, Victim." Ainz said genuinely, touched by the fetal looking Angel's sentiment. "But since the surprise is ruined now, shall we at least finish the gift?"

"Darsar, ol tabaan? tol ol attempts blans noan failures. (How, my lord? All my attempts have been failures.)" Victim said mournfully.

"By working together, of course." Ainz declared with confidence he did not truly feel. "Now, create your Angels and I shall use my powers to ensure they come out as you intend."

"Da once, ol tabaan! (At once, my lord!)" The Angel said eagerly as he began to stretch out his divine power and flesh seemed to appear from nowhere a short distance ahead of his own body.

Immediately Ainz stretched out a portion of his will as well, an effortless process here on Felmid which was now as much his body as the Overlord one that had been his YGGDRASIL avatar, and forced the newly emerging beings to fit with their creators' designs. He encountered a slight resistance as something, the laws of the world perhaps, tried to counter his efforts but he easily smothered this obstacle. And as the conjured flesh shaped themselves into visually identical copies to Victim and floated into the air like their creator, Ainz could feel that they'd succeeded.

"You," Ainz said pointing to the leftmost of the six newly created Angels. "Test the **Sacrifice Bind** ability."

"Ca g bogpa, Micalz El! (As you command, Supreme One!)" The Angel replied promptly before exploding in a shower of gore that proceeded to transform into chains of golden energy that wrapped around its five other compatriots.

"T worked! ol tabaan, t worked! (It worked! My lord, it worked!)" Victim cried out excitedly.

"Yes, it has." Ainz agreed as the chains faded and the remaining Angels were freed. "But let us test something else. You five, can you reproduce?"

"If ar i g wish, micalz el, ge darbs. (If that is your wish, supreme one, we obey.)" The Angels said in frankly creepy unison.

"It is." Ainz said, letting none of his unease show and watched in morbid fascination as with the unnatural stretching of pink flesh the five Angels fissioned and became ten.

"There, Victim." the Overlord said with a grand sweep of his arm at the new Angels. "Your new minions. What will you call them?"

"Tol ol thanks, ol tabaan, lap assisting g creating par. Perhaps g trian gnay ol a iaiadix c naming par ca balit? (All my thanks, my lord, for assisting in creating them. Perhaps you could do me the honor of naming them as well?)" Victim asked with a begging quality to his voice.

_Just the situation I wanted to avoid. But I guess it cannot be helped._

"Let us call them Sacrificial Cherubs then." Ainz said after a moment as he recalled how his old friend Ulbert Alain Odle had once compared Victim himself to a twisted Cherub. "I look forward to seeing them serve Nazarick well."

The newly named Cherubs and their creator bowed their heads low. "Ge apila od die lap Nazarick! (We live and die for Nazarick!)"

Nodding in satisfaction at their pledge of loyalty, Ainz turned and teleported away. He'd run away from his paperwork for long enough. If he dallied any further Albedo would likely come looking for him and he definitely wanted to avoid that!

* * *

Months later, Ainz stood alongside Albedo, Enri, Shalltear, Pandora's Actor, Sebas and Victim on a platform overlooking a large parade square that had been specially created for the occasion so as to inspect the army of liberated slaves that were standing in ordered ranks with their various equipment that filled up the square. Hovering above them in ones and twos were hundreds of Victim's Sacrificial Cherubs.

"Are they ready?" Ainz asked as he looked upon the blocks of infantry before him armed as they were with various plasma and laser weapons as well as the parked battalions of armored vehicles and artillery.

"Thanks to Lady Shalltear's help," Enri, dressed in her Regina Proelium Armor and with Coram Imperio strapped to her waist, said as she gestured to the True Vampire who smiled politely at the mention. "The troops are ready for the task of supporting your children as intended, Bone Father."

"How ready exactly?" Ainz asked meaningfully.

"Ready enough to fight any foe, even a god, with confidence and some chance of success."

Ainz nodded at Enri's glowing report and looked to Shalltear for confirmation, receiving a hasty nod from his Consort in reply.

"I hope they live up to you high expectations of them, Enri." Ainz told the Momon kindly, causing the girl to blush.

"Victim, are you certain you want to add your Cherubs to the army's ranks?" Ainz asked his Angelic Guardian.

"Ol zir certain, ol tabaan. (I am certain, my lord.)"

"Very well." Ainz said consideringly. "But they are small in number at the moment. So let us keep them in reserve for now and deploy them when their population is more sustainable."

"If ar i g bogpa, Micalz El, uml ol darbs. (If that is your command, Supreme One, then I obey.)" Victim said sounding a tad disappointed.

Ainz was adamant though. He would not send his Guardian's creations into battle when there were so few of them. He would not see them extinct before they even had a chance to stabilize their numbers. It would be a shame to Nazarick to lose their abilities. That and he did not want Victim's efforts in creating them go to waste.

"The same applies for your clerics, Sebas." Ainz told the Iron Butler. "Let their numbers grow first. Once your cult is more established _then_ you may select some of them to serve in our armies. Let the Veryon girl know this when you next speak to her."

"I will, my Lord." Sebas said with a polite bow.

"Pandora's Actor," Ainz said as he looked over the square and found something missing. "Where is the fleet you promised?"

"Here they are, mein Vater." The Greater Doppelgänger said with a flourish and a snap of his fingers.

At this signal, a fleet of dozens of the new Ironclad spelljammers descended from the sky as they escorted a new Felmidian-type dreadnought. It was a thoroughly impressive sight, as the firepower of this one fleet alone matched the total strength of many of the spacefaring factions of Realmspace.

"Well done, Pandora's Actor." Ainz said in honest appreciation. "But have you deciphered the secret of constructing new spelljamming helms?"

"We have." His creation assured him. "Helms produced based on the designs Demiurge 'extracted' from the Neogi are being tested as we speak. Soon we will be able to produce our own helms."

"And in the meantime?"

"We still a glut of helms retrieved from the wreckage of the enemies that Cocytus, Deathwing and the Sliver Queen have destroyed."

"I am satisfied," Ainz said making a sweeping gesture to indicate the assembled forces before him. "But Albedo what is your opinion? Speak honestly."

"I think we are as prepared as we can be." The Guardian Overseer said after a moment of consideration. "As you knew we would be."

"You give me too much credit." Ainz said with a chuckle. "However, I must agree. We are ready. It is time to unleash our might on Toril. May the fools shudder in the face of our fury. As a great bard once said, 'Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war.'"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> I hope you guys liked how I tied up everything in this 'book' in the last scene there. It's a little flimsy in some cases but still works. At least I think it is. Let me know if you disagree.
> 
> Well, till next time, bidaee!


	23. Skelkor War 1: Emergence

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 1: Emergence**

**Beta:**

* * *

Yorha stood on a small rise in Southern Skelkor somewhere in the canyon that separated the Tulgey Wood from the rest of the country and looked down at the entrance to the Underdark some distance below as a stream of heavily armed and well trained soldiers marched out. These freed former slaves were led by their Momon officers and were accompanied by Gaul's ever growing undead legions.

"It's an impressive sight isn't it?" Yorha spoke out loud as she watched the soldiers spread out and settle into the large camp that they'd established around the large cave that led out of the Underdark. "To think we're in command of this now. It's humbling."

Kuro, riding on her shoulders as always, chirped in agreement before rubbing his slug like body against her neck as if reassuring her that she'd do fine. At least that was how Yorha interpreted his actions.

"Yorha!" Neia shouted from behind her and the swordswoman turned to face her sister and partymate.

"Drau wants to discuss something with us." The archer added, gesturing to the command tent that elements of their army had set up at the top of the small hill they stood on.

Yorha nodded and walked towards the tent, Neia falling in beside her as she passed.

"Any idea what she wants to talk about?" Yorha asked curiously. Considering their situation it could be any number of things.

"She didn't say." Neia told her with a shrug. "By the way, how's the troops settling in? Any issues?"

"None that I could see, but I'm no expert."

Kuro also chirped in what sounded like a negative as well.

"Well, that's good to hear." Neia said as the two of them walked passed the two well built Dragonborn soldiers that guarded the entrance of the command tent, to whom all three of them offered nods, and into the nerve center of their army.

As Yorha expected it was a scene of ordered chaos where the men and women of their senior staff ran around coordinating their exit from the Underdark and the set up of their camp. In the midst of this sea of shouted orders and runners moving to and fro there was an island of calm near the rear of the tent where the rest of their party and family stood.

"Yorha, Kuro, hi." Drau greeted as they neared them ahead of the others who also offered their hellos.

Yorha rolled her eyes. "We were gone for no more than ten minutes."

"It doesn't hurt to be polite." Taana said teasingly.

The swordswoman sighed at her family's strange sense of humor even as Gaul grunted in agreement with his fellow Wizard.

"So I fetched Yorha. Can you tell us what you want to discuss now, Drau?" Neia asked, crossing her arms impatiently.

Drau nodded and fiddled with her Omnitool for a moment and the top of the table they were standing around glowed for a moment before projecting a holographic map of the Laerakond. Supposedly based on intelligence by the Bone Father's agents, it was perhaps the most detailed map of the continent in the world. It was certainly more detailed than anything Yorha had ever seen.

"So what I want to discuss is our next step." The Draconic leader of their party said. "We have an army of followers we need to care for now and the best way that I can see to do that is to form a nation to house them."

"Aren't they the Bone Father's followers?" Neia nitpicked with a teasing grin.

"Which he has entrusted to our care." Drau reminded the Paladin. "And Yorha, smack her for me."

"Gladly." The android said as she lightly smacked Neia for being cheeky.

"Ouch!" Neia yelped dramatically, playing up by a substantial margin any pain she might have felt at the light blow. "I'll be good."

"You better be." Drau told the short blonde sternly. "But back to the topic at hand, anyone have ideas? I have some but I want to hear you guys out first. These people were entrusted to _our_ care. We're going to have to make decisions about their well being collectively."

"I abstain." Taana said as she looked at the map with a frown of incomprehension. "This level of decision-making is _way_ beyond my abilities."

"I honestly don't care what we do next." Gauldoth admitted with a shrug.

"We're in Skelkor aren't we?" Neia asked redundantly as she eyed the marker on the holographic map that indicated their position. "And it's _the_ evil dragon empire of Laerakond, isn't it? I don't think that's a coincidence. I think that's a sign from Lord Ainz that he wants us to liberate Skelkor from its oppressive Draconic overlords."

"You're probably right." Drau agreed. "You _are_ his Paladin. But I can't help but feel that it would be safer for us to just carve out a nation and be done with it. We don't exactly need to liberate the whole country to support our people."

With everyone's opinion aired, the rest of the party turned to Yorha.

"I would prefer Drau's option." Yorha said after a moment of hesitation. "But I doubt it's possible. Everything we know about Skelkor says it's an evil empire which will not tolerate another nation taking its territory, so unless we move elsewhere we won't be able to found our nation."

"Based on Laerakond's terrain, Skelkor is the best place to support our population." Drau said as she looked at the map consideringly. "Anywhere more suitable will be difficult to reach and possibly lead to heavy losses before we can find better land."

"Which is why we can't just leave." Yorha said, nodding in agreement. "Add to that just how abominable Skelkor is, being a slaving empire, we only have one choice."

"Which is?" Neia asked eagerly, clearing already knowing where Yorha was going.

"The only logical _and moral_ thing to do is to liberate this evil Dragon empire." The android said as she firmly jabbed her finger at the heart of the Skelkor on the map. "We have the means and the will. It's time to wipe this stain on history off the face of the world."

* * *

Kuro had been mulling over what he was about to do for the days since he'd gained his sapience. In all that time, he had wrestled with how to do it. Vacillating between revealing his newfound awareness to his whole family at once or just Yorha first. The former would mean that he didn't need to face Yorha alone and that was at once both a comfort and betrayal all at once. He was afraid of letting Yorha know at all because of the odd feelings he felt towards her, which his assimilated experience was something that he just couldn't believe, and yet at the same time felt that as his caregiver she had the right to know first. It was a conundrum he'd been struggling with for what seemed like ages, but he'd finally made a decision!

As such as Yorha retired to her personal tent to rest for the night, he prepared to take action.

Being an android she might not strictly need or was capable of sleep but she could approximate it by powering down most of her systems. This allowed her self-repair systems to work on any wear and tear she might have suffered and let her processors cool. Thus she found it highly restful and spent at least part of every night in such a state whenever possible.

As Yorha put him down on a rock, whose surface, much to his chagrin, immediately began bubbling as it began to corrode away due to the contact with his body, Kuro began shifting the internal composition of his slug-like body to form some humanoid vocalization organs.

"Yorha," he said carefully just as the android was taking off her dress.

It was something she rarely did, since it doubled as her armor and she, like the rest of the party, strongly believed in _always_ being ready for attack. But it, like all their equipment, _did_ need cleaning and in some cases maintenance every so often, so before resting Yorha usually took it off to check it and if need be wash it.

At his voice however Yorha froze mid motion in unzipping her dress and turned towards Kuro with a look of shock on her beautiful face.

"Kuro, d-did you just talk?" The android asked, stammering uncharacteristically in her surprise.

"I did." Kuro confirmed, nodding to emphasize that it was indeed him that was speaking.

"Ho-" The lovely swordswoman began only to stop as she seemed to put the puzzle pieces together and she amended her question. "When?"

"Only since after we took out that last Drow city." Kuro told her. "Before that, I had a bestial intelligence and awareness."

Yorha nodded, her unfocused eyes betraying the thousands of thoughts that must be crossing her mind in that moment.

"I see." She said almost distractedly even as her hands moved almost of their own accord to zip her half undone dress back up. "Could you take a humanoid form? I think it would be easier to talk to you like that."

"Certainly." Kuro said as he let his body change its shape into the most natural feeling of the various humanoid shapes available to him. Unfortunately, this was that of an Illithid and even with the transformation half complete he could see a frown spreading on Yorha's perfect face.

"Something else please." She urged with a frown of distaste.

"Apologies," Kuro said hastily as she shifted into the guise of a Human male with black hair and eyes. He kept the purple skin of the Illithid though, and with it enough of the Mind Flayer to levitate an inch off the ground and escape melting it away with his corrosive body, whilst dressing in a simple set of tunic and leggings. "Is this better?"

"It's an improvement." Yorha said with a nod.

Kuro barely heard her. He was too taken by the vision his new humanoid eyes was presenting him.

"You're even more beautiful with Human eyes!" Kuro gasped involuntarily as his new form settled.

"T-Thanks." Yorha said sounding startled and with a slight blush.

"It's the truth." Kuro insisted even as he wanted to smack himself for just blurting it out like that.

_Can't exactly change the past. So I guess my best move now is refuge in audacity!_

"I'm sure you think so." Yorha told him, looking flustered. Whether that was from the situation or the compliment or both, he couldn't tell. "And that there's some truth to it. I _am_ , among other things, a pleasure doll. Being soft on the eyes is a given."

"You're a what!?" Kuro gasped. Yorha had never told him that!

The android blinked in confusion for a moment before blushing prettily.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?" She said, smacking her forehead daintily.

"Yes, you did." Kuro confirmed with a nod. "Um, if it's not too much, uh, could you explain?"

"Sure," Yorha said, her blush intensifying. "Well, when Drau found me on Felmid that's what I was. A pleasure doll, I mean. She was the one who programmed me to be what I am. My gender, my appearance that all came from her. She didn't want a bedmate though, she wanted a companion. A bodyguard. So she modified me a lot. Arranged for training too. That's how I became a swordswoman."

Kuro nodded. That did sound like something Drau would do.

"So do the others know?"

"Drau does, of course. But the others?" Yorha said with a soft shake of her head. "I'm too embarrassed to tell them to be honest."

"You shouldn't be." Kuro told her honestly. "Whatever you are, you're still our Yorha. Our resident expert master swordswoman."

"T-Thank you." Yorha said offering him a grateful smile at the reassurance.

* * *

While Yorha and Kuro were sharing secrets about themselves to each other, Taana sat with Gaul inside a tent set aside for use as their shared lab as they put the finishing touches on the reconstructed copy of Master Falgrim's Runic Compendium.

"That's the last page isn't it?" Gaul asked as Taana painstakingly copied the last few lines of text from the damaged original into the new Compendium.

A process made all the harder by the curse she bore from inheriting her family's Tome of Lightning Magic out of turn that left her incapable of comprehending the words that she was duplicating. This meant she'd had to copy everything as if they were mere pictograms. Something that made the already trying process ten times worse.

"Yeah," Taana said with a sigh of relief as she finished and looked up at the armored Wizard.

"Thanks for all the help Gaul!" She told him with cheerful sincerity.

The man deserved it. He'd been a great help, copying whole sections for her and more importantly comparing Master Falgrim's damaged Compendium with the Tome of Runes they'd recovered from their sacking of the last Drow city to identify what they needed to copy. A task that with her curse was all but impossible.

Grunting in dismissal, the necromancer turned away from her and back to the Drow corpse he was experimenting on.

Despite this apparent indifference however, he replied. "Looking out for you has become second nature to me."

Taana blushed at that. "Thanks. I really appreciate it, you know?"

"What's with the blush?" Gaul asked, looking at her through the reflection of one of the mirrors that was hanging over his examination table. "Don't tell me you're developing romantic feelings for me?"

He said it jokingly, well as jokingly as the abrasive necromancer ever got, but Tanna nevertheless couldn't help sputtering as she replied.

"N-No! By Nazarick, don't even joke about it Gaul! You're like a brother to me dammit! And just the thought of feeling that way about a brother, urgh!"

Ignoring her disgusted ramblings with the indifference that characterized almost all his behavior towards things he did not find interesting, Gaul instead homed in on something that _did_ interest him.

"A brother huh?"

"Yeah," Taana said when she recovered at last. "Before I met Master Falgrim, I never got much affection you know? Much less the kind of care that you all constantly shower me with. We Shadar-kai are usually too wrapped up in ourselves most of the time to care about stuff like that when it comes to other people. Even our own children."

"Not you," Gaul noted.

"I'm different." Taana acknowledged. "I always have been. Too Human, my parents used to say. I do have some minute Human blood, or so the family stories went."

"That was an insult, correct? Being called Human."

"Not quite." Taana admitted. "But close enough."

"Well, the next person who insults you or comes close will have to answer to us." Gaul said firmly. "We're your family now."

"I know." Taana said with a happy smile and a warm feeling that brought a blush to her face.

"There's that blush again." Gaul said with a snort. "Though I think I know what brought it on now."

"Gaul~!" Taana whined in dismay at his teasing.

Suddenly, a screeching alarm sounded throughout the camp. Without hesitation both seasoned adventurers sprung into action. Abandoning whatever they were doing, they scooped up their gear and rushed outside with the more well armored Gaul in front and both of them silently casting their buff spells on themselves in preparation for a fight.

Once outside, they hastily surveyed their surroundings for the threat and quickly spotted a trio of Black Dragons flying towards the camp in the far distance.

"Shit!" Taana cursed. "We've been discovered."

"That was just a matter of time. What I want to know is how they got so close. They are well past our pickets by now, how is it that they weren't intercepted?" Gaul said, his voice tinged with disapproval.

"I dunno." Taana said as she nudged him towards the command tent. "But I'm sure Drau will. Let's go check in with her and find out."

Gaul just growled in irritation but he heeded her call and got moving. Carefully making sure he was always between her and the incoming Dragons as they sprinted through the camp.

_A trusty and reliable big brother indeed._ Taana thought to herself as they ran through the masses of soldiers who were scrambling to their stations. _Now if only I can get him to be less of a jerk._

* * *

A short while before the Dragons showed up, Neia stood at a podium at the front of a large tent that had been designated as the camp's primary prayer hall and was leading a packed service for the Bone Father's faithful.

"-And that is why we must fight those who would oppress the weak such as slavers!" Neia said with the full power of her skills as an Evangelist. "Our god, the mighty Bone Father, Lord Ainz Ooal Gown might be branded by the system of alignments as Evil, but that is only because he will stoop to any low, commit any atrocity, if it means protecting his people. Thus, we as his people, must be ready _and willing_ to do the same! Do you un-"

The Paladin of the Supreme One's sermon was cut off when suddenly a screeching alarm echoed throughout the camp and drowned out all noise for a moment. It quickly lowered in intensity, but remained a loud noise in the background as the camp's inhabitants jumped to action at its call.

"Return to your units at once!" Neia shouted over the alarm at her congregation and ran out of the tent, already pulling Ultimate Shooting Star Super over her shoulder and an arrow out of her quiver. "Report to your commanding officers and prepare for combat!"

The moment she stepped outside the tent she zeroed in on the enemy and raised her ornate longbow with an arrow already nocked. Her targets were still little more than distant, vague shapes on the horizon but that were still well within _her_ range so without hesitation she loosed the arrow while activating her **Dragon Slaying Arrow**.

It streaked through the air like a meteor, glowing gold with the energies that her skill had imbued it with. Ahead of it, the Adult Black Dragon at the head of the formation of attackers surely noticed it but in an act of contemptuous disregard continued to wing its way through the canyon towards them without the slightest attempt at evasion. It was the last mistake it ever made as Neia's arrow struck it head on and promptly exploded with enough force to tear the huge creature's entire rib cage open and showering the ground below in gore.

The sight of the Dragon being killed in one shot and its body crashing out of the sky, brought a rapturous cheer from their army even as it caused the pair of remaining Young Black Dragons to reel around in shock.

"See them panic!" Neia shouted, using her Evangelist skills to be heard over the shouts and whoops around her. "See the enemies of our god feel fear!"

* * *

While Neia had still been conducting her service, Drau had been in the command tent looking over a map of Skelkor via a holographic display and considering how to best deploy their forces for the coming campaign.

_Should we stay together? That would allow us to concentrate our forces and likely give us an overwhelming advantage._ Drau thought to herself as she looked thoughtfully at the map. _But Skelkor is a large country. If we advance as only one body it'll take a long time, maybe years, to liberate the whole country. Possibly long enough for the Dragons to come up with a counter strategy against us. Hmm… But if we split up, then our weaker forces will be vulnerable..._

She was still pondering the dilemma when she heard the screeching alarm that signified an incoming major attack. Looking over to the Human manning the communications station, she wordlessly asked for details.

"Outer pickets report a trio of Black Dragons, one Adult, two Young, flying towards our position form the direction of Mratanga." The slender blonde woman said in reply. "They are requesting permission to engage."

Drau considered that for a moment before shaking her head.

"Denied," she said firmly. "Let the Dragons come a little closer to the main camp first. I want to use them as a demonstration."

"Is that wise, my Lady?" Her adjutant said. He was a Momon named Fluder Paradyne whose human guise was that of a elderly man of short stature, possessing a magnificent white beard, with a head full of snow white hair and dressed in a loose white robe that he complemented with a necklace made with numerous crystal orbs.

"Trust me, Fluder." Drau told him. "Now set up a tactical display."

The Momon frowned by obeyed, turning to the Orc manning the sensors station and ordered him to patch their feeds through to the primary holographic display. The pyramid shaped device in the center of the tent promptly came online and projected realistic simulacrums of the three incoming Dragons. It faithfully recreated the slender Dragons down to their horns which protruded from the sides of their heads and wrapped around, projecting forward as well as the large frill that adorned the upper part of the neck. The three were flying in a delta formation, with the Adult at the lead, as they advanced through the canyon, past the dozens of picket camps that Drau had ordered their men to set up around their main camp.

"May I ask, my Lady, what you're waiting for?" Fluder asked as they both watched the display like a hawk.

"I want them to be in sight of camp. To be visible to the main body of our troops." Drau told him. "I want our men to see them taken out right in front of their eyes. That way it'll be an effective display that they can take down the Dragons."

"That is unnecessary." Fluder told her in an unhappy grumble. "The troops' training on Felmid drilled that into them already."

"A reminder wouldn't hurt."

She had barely made that observation when suddenly the Adult Black Dragon blinked off the tactical display.

"What just happened?" Drau demanded of her command staff.

"It was Lady Neia, ma'am!" The Human at comms shouted in reply. "She shot it down."

"You and your trigger finger." Drau said under her breath in frustration at her fellow Sniper derailing her plans. "But I guess if you could shoot then they are at least somewhat visible."

"My Lady, the remaining Dragons seem to be attempting to flee." Fluder cut into her complaining to inform her, gesturing to the display where the two Young Black Dragons were climbing into the sky as hard as they could while making hasty maneuvers to avoid what she could only imagine were Neia's persistent attempts to shoot them down.

"Order all pickets to open fire." Drau told him with grim finality. "Don't let them escape."

"They will not," Fluder assured her with a nod before he turned to the woman at comms and barked orders for her to relay to the scouts manning the pickets.

Moments later, they and much of the command center staff watched via the tactical display as a dozen missiles shot into the air from just as many picket camps towards the fleeing Dragons. These were no ordinary missiles however but were products of Felmid specially designed to kill Dragons and other large monsters. Using normal science they were forged to be anti-armor thus allowing them to more readily penetrate even the toughest monstrous hides. In addition, the same engineering meant that their payloads scattered before impact into small bomblets which allowed to cover a substantial area in their deadly explosions as well thus making them quite effective in anti-air scenarios such as the one in which they were used now. The coup de grâce however were that were also enchanted to be anti-large, making them even more effective against the Dragons.

So effective were they in fact that it only took seven of the twelve missiles to finish them off. By the time the remaining five had found their mark, the two Dragons were already dead and the detonations merely tore apart and cooked their corpses with their powerful explosions.

Seeing the two images of the Young Black Dragons blink out of existence on the tactical display, a cheer went up in the command tent and Drau smiled as she too soaked in the satisfaction of a good kill. So much so that it took her a moment to realize the cheering wasn't just coming from inside the command tent but outside as well.

"It appears you got the demonstration you wanted, my Lady." Fluder told her with a grin.

"Looks like it," Drau replied, her grin growing even wider as she savored her victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> So I used this chapter to reaffirm the nature of some of the major relationships within the party before they set off on the next leg of their adventures. And what a leg it will be. They were already conquering liberators, but now they'll be nation builders? How will that work out? Well, I hope you all will keep reading to find out.
> 
> And wow Felmid weaponry is OP huh? Yup, it is. It is a potent mix of high level mundane technology (i.e. magic not reliant on magic in anyway) fused with advanced magic. Considering how rare this is in Realmspace, of course it's going to be phenomenally potent. That each and every piece of Felmid hardware that doesn't crumble to dust while offworld is blessed by the will of Ainz Ooal Gown himself? Well, that just adds to their potency, no?
> 
> Well, that's it for me this chapter. Till next time lamtumirë!


	24. Skelkor War 2: Friendly Scouting

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 2: Friendly Scouting**

**Beta:**

* * *

Drau stood with Taana at the entrance to one of the many canyons that split off from the main pass in which their army had set up their base camp. A short distance away stood fourteen Soul Eaters, thirteen with riders and the last waiting for Taana. This was the small scout force that the Shadar-kai was to command and was tasked with ascertaining if there was a path through the river valleys that cut through the mountains around their position which would allow them to move an army towards the coast of the Dragon Sea without having to march through Skelkor's central plain.

"Thanks Drau for trusting me with a command." Taana told her with a grin.

Drau frowned.

"Why wouldn't I. I trust you with my life."

"Yeah," The young Wizard said rubbing the back of neck nervously. "But I know my way in a fight. But commanding? It's my first time."

"That's true for every one of us." Drau told the younger woman with a light squeeze to her shoulder. "And I trust the others. So of course I trust you too."

"The others are-"

"Just as good as you are." Drau insisted. "Have faith in yourself."

Taana took in a deep breath at that.

"I will." She said after having steadied herself. "I won't fail this mission. I swear it."

"Just come back safe." Drau told her seriously. "That's all that matters."

Taana nodded and opened her arms for a hug, one that Drau returned earnestly. As they pulled apart, she offered her younger sister one last word of encouragement.

"You can do this."

"Thanks." Taana said as a nod before reluctantly turning and began walking over to her men.

Drau stood there watching as Taana mounted up and with a signal to her platoon begin to ride away with the scouts in tow. She stayed there until they entire group had disappeared from even her impressive Draconic vision before she finally turned and returned to her duties. As much as she wanted to babysit Taana through her first command, she had a war to plan for.

* * *

A couple days into their mission, Taana and her platoon of scouts had covered impressive ground. Their undead Soul Eater mounts' tirelessness and sheer speed allowing them to travel twice, perhaps thrice, as much distance as conventional horses. Not that Taana had much experience with horses but some of her men had, and she trusted their estimates.

They had yet to set out for the day and were still at their camp from the night before in one of the larger river valleys carved by the many glacier fed rivers and streams that were all over the mountains of Southern Skelkor. So far the valley had been wide enough to allow an army through like they'd hoped and if their maps were correct that would hold true all the way through till they made it out of the mountains altogether.

_Maybe I should split off a portion of my men to try and scout out a route to Bellakh while the rest of us map one to Arangyn like Drau ordered?_ The Shadar-kai thought to herself as she looked at a smaller canyon that forked off from the one they were moving through and headed south.

She was still contemplating the merits of doing so when her communicator beeped to signal an incoming call. Pulling out the the small palm sized rectangular device from one of her pouches, she saw that it was from her adjutant who had volunteered to go scout ahead of the main force while the rest of them rested.

"Arche, what is it?" Taana asked the Momon on the other end of the visual connection created by her communicator.

"We have a problem, my Lady." The undead creature in the guise of a blue eyed blonde whose hair was cut to a length that barely reached her shoulders and a face that possessed delicate features, said. Her outfit of a loose robe with sturdy pieces of leather armor strapped atop it for some protection, was quite similar to Tanna's own. Which was fitting since they were both Wizards.

"It appears that someone is looking for us."

At this her fellow Wizard turned her communicator towards the distance. The first thing Taana noted was that it looked down into a valley meaning that Arche had climbed, or more likely levitated or flew, up the mountain side for some reason. The next thing the Shadar-kai noticed however had her sucking in a breath in shock.

"Is that an Adult Blue Dragon?" Taana asked worriedly as she looked at the unmistakable form of a huge blue scaled Dragon with a large, prominent horn protruding from its head and its large, frilled ears.

"Unfortunately," Arche told her as she turned the communicator back towards herself, a frown marring her beautiful face.

"Based on your location, can we go around it?" Taana asked. While they were sufficiently armed to take on even the formidable foe ahead of them, they were ostensibly a scout force and the Shadar-kai wished to avoid a fight if she could help it. That it being a Blue Dragon made it immune to Lightning which was her magical specialty and thus put them at a disadvantage just reinforced this line of thinking.

"Yes," Arche informed her and prompted a sigh of relief form Taana. "But I've overhead it talking to its minions. It's actively searching the valleys for signs of our army. If that's the case, I don't know if we can avoid it for long. Perhaps we should turn back?"

Taana considered the matter. On one hand, turning back would be the safe option but it would mean that they'd failed their mission. On the other, continuing would be risky but it was not like they'd been caught yet or anything. They could avoid a fight altogether if they were lucky.

_And even if it comes to that…_ Taana glanced at the four missile launchers that were strapped to the backs of an equal number of their Soul Eaters. _We have a chance. That being the case-_

"We'll continue for now." Taana decided. "But we'll comms back to base camp what we've found and see what they have to say."

Arche didn't look pleased by her decision but she nodded. "As you command, my Lady. I'll be back in a couple hours."

"Stay safe." Taana told her and cut the visual link.

As she did, she toggled her communicator to its mapping function and double checking Arche's position she began plotting alterations to their path in such a way as to hopefully avoid their Draconic pursuer. Even as she did though, she couldn't stop her mind from worrying over a single thought.

_I hope I made the right call._

* * *

Three days after first sighting their Draconic hunter, Arche found herself hiding atop a rocky ledge with a half dozen of her subordinates, two of which were equipped with David-class anti-monster missiles and looking down to see the Blue Dragon that had been tracking their scout force for the past few days.

"My Lady," Arche asked Lady Taana over her communicator. "Are you sure you want us to do this?"

"Relax, Arche." Lord Ainz's Chosen told her, trying to sound reassuring. "This is a good plan. Even Drau and the others back at base camp said so. Besides with the Dragon having cut off our retreat, we only have two options left. Either we keep running from it or we fight. And as the poll of the men last night said, the majority prefer to fight."

Arche frowned as she recalled the near unanimous raising of hands around last night's campfire for the option of taking the fight to the enemy. It galled her to see so many of her men were such reckless fools.

"Very well. But I would like to register my concern."

"Noted." Lady Taana said with a nod. "Have faith, Arche. We'll pull this off."

Arche replied with a nod of her own.

"Lady Arche," the nearest missile trooper, a Human, said in a whisper as he nudged her gently. "The target is in range."

Glancing at the Blue Dragon, Arche confirmed that he was correct before turning to Lady Taana's image on her communicator meaningfully.

"It's in range over on my end too." Lady Taana told her with a confident grin. "Fire on three."

Arche nodded as raised three fingers of her hand nearest to the soldiers manning the missiles to indicate a countdown, receiving acknowledging nods in return.

"Three." The Shadar-kai said and the Momon Wizard dropped the first finger.

The two soldiers adjusted their weapons, lining the missile up with the bulk of the Dragon flying through the canyon below them.

"Two." Lady Taana said and Arche dropped a finger as her troops sucked in steadying breaths.

"One. Fire!" Arche dropped the last raised finger and closed her fist,

Reacting with all the professionalism drilled into them by their time training on Felmid, the men fired.

The shots were on target and caught the Dragon seeming completely by surprise. He was thus reeling as the deadly missiles hit him dead on, ripping large chunks out of its flesh. One lucky shot had even blown off its left wing entirely and it plummeted to the ground below, crashing the throng of Human and Dragonborn slaves it had brought with it. It was however _not_ dead.

"Reload and fire a second volley!" Lady Taana shouted over the comms. "Hurry before the Dragon recovers."

Arche's men were already hurrying to do just that but the Momon could tell they would be too late. Already she could see the Dragon casting some spell. The academic part of Arche's mind identified it as a modified version of the **Call Lightning Storm** spell that wrapped the conjured storm around its caster as a form of armor. Effective armor as well as bolts of electricity from the storm intercepted all of the second volley of Davids, causing them to explode prematurely. Some of their micro munitions still got through but not enough to cause any more than flesh wounds.

"Lady Taana, we need to retreat." Arche told the Bone Father's Chosen that she'd been ordered to obey. "With our Davids rendered ineffective by that armor-"

"I know." Lady Taana said urgently, as she waved urgently presumably at her half of their unit. "Get your men out of there _now_!"

Arche was pleasantly surprised that her commander, who'd she'd considered headstrong up till now, was so ready to listen to advice. That said, she didn't let the emotion hinder her efforts as she followed the other woman's example and signaled her men to begin a retreat.

It was this calm under fire that allowed her to throw up a **Shell Barrier** just in time to protect them all as the Blue Dragon breathed a burst of lightning right at their position, clearly having extrapolated it from the trajectories of the Davids.

"Hurry," she urged her men firmly despite her soft voice. "My spell wouldn't hold forever."

At that reminder, the men picked up whatever equipment they'd put down and ran as fast as they could manage while staying in a group as they made it towards their Soul Eater mounts. With their most effective weapons against the Dragon countered, their best course of action now was to flee.

* * *

"You think he'll give up anytime soon?" Lady Taana asked as they and the survivors of their unit huddled together in a cave whilst hiding under the protection of the updated **Greater Unknowable** spell that Lord Gauldoth had developed. All whilst they heard the sound of the wing beats of the by now healed Adult Blue Dragon that had been chasing them, as it searched the surrounding area.

"I do not think so, my Lady." Arche told her honestly. "We managed to hurt it gravely. Its pride will not allow it to stop hunting us until it has caught us. And a Dragon's pride is legendary."

Lady Taana sighed.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have tried that ambush. Thanks to that debacle we've lost more than half our men to that Dragon."

The failure of the ambush had been costly indeed. While they'd only lost two men in the event itself. It had spurred the Blue Dragon into a vengeful pursuit that had cost them another six men, leaving them with only four soldiers left.

"Perhaps." Arche allowed. "But it was sanctioned by high command. So it is not only you to blame."

"So it's Drau's fault too?"

Arche winced. That was not what she meant. She had no intention of blaming Lord Ainz's Chosen.

"What I meant, my Lady, is that not even high command, including my fellow Momons and the other members of the senior staff expected that outcome." Arche corrected herself.

Lady Taana muttered something unintelligible but sounded self-deprecating.

_That won't do. We can't afford to have our commander questioning her very ability to lead right now._

"It wasn't all a loss, my Lady." Arche said as comfortingly as she could. "At least now we know to be wary of counters to our Davids."

"A small prize." The Lord's Chosen said in a soft, sad voice.

Arche found herself at a loss. She honestly did not know what else she could say or do that would cheer Lady Taana up.

"Don't worry about me, Arche." The other woman said, somehow guessing her thoughts. "I'll manage."

The Momon wasn't sure she believed her, but by this point what else could she do but have faith in her Lord's Chosen. Surely, the infinitely wise Lord Ainz had chosen this Shadar-kai for a reason.

* * *

"Ride faster!" Taana urged her men, as they pushed their Soul Eater mounts hard. "We're almost there!"

" **Greater Disturbance!"** Arche cast from the back of her own undead horse as she renewed the anti-magic enchantment on one of their two surviving soldiers.

A necessity as their relentless Draconic pursuer breathed a column of lightning directly at them. The enchantment being the only thing that kept them safe from its magical breath weapon.

The terrain sadly had no such protection and it was blasted apart, creating craters and sending debris flying everywhere. Thankfully, the phenomenal speed of the Soul Eaters meant they were easily able to outrun these dangerous clouds of debris and their agility allowed them to maneuver around any obstacles in their way.

"Wandering Stones is just ahead!" Taana shouted as she saw the group of massive stones that moved on their own accord in the dark night that signified the village protected by the spirit of the dead primordial Arambar was just ahead.

It had been Arche who suggested they flee here to escape their hunter. It was that or keep running until the rescue force could catch up to them. Drau had actually ordered them to do exactly that, telling her that she was detaching a force their way once they finished taking Daerr and Arangyn in a few days. She'd assured them that with a **Gate** spell the reinforcements would get there in no time. Taana and Arche had both decided not to risk waiting so long and that they would make a run for Wandering Stones instead, hoping that if nothing else Arambar would like in the past rise from the dead to destroy the Dragon that threatened his resting place.

" **Greater Disturbance!"** Arche cast for what must have been the hundredth time.

_Even with mana potions, she's got to be running dry on magic soon._ Taana reasoned. _We better make it there fast!_

"You worms will not escape me!" The Dragon chasing them roared. "You will pay for humiliating the mighty Algagos!"

"L-Lady Taana," Arche shouted desperately over the sounds of their mad flight. "I-I'm out of mana!"

_Shit! I hate it when I'm right._

It seemed Algagos had heard Arche too because it chuckled and roared triumphantly. "Time to die, pathetic worms!"

Taana chanced a glance at it and saw the huge Dragon pull its neck back and take a deep breath as it prepared to unleash its lightning breath at them one final time.

_Bone Father, I'm sorry I failed you._ Taana prayed in apology to her god.

_Why? You have done no such thing._ The Supreme One replied to the Shadar-kai's shock.

She was so surprised by her god's reply to her prayer that it barely fazed her as one of the massive moving stones that gave Wandering Stones its name suddenly shot at Algagos like a missile and punched it right across the chin. The blow sent the lightning storm that the Blue Dragon had been building up shooting off target and into the sky instead.

This was however the least of its worries as the other moving stones in the area began gathering around the one that had punched it and were coalescing into a vaguely humanoid form that was the size of a mountain.

"Arambar!?" The Dragon shouted in alarm. "But I am not yet within the confines of your grave!"

The primordial said nothing, simply grabbed Algagos by the neck with one massive rocky arm and its thick crocodile-like tail by the other.

"Mercy!" Algagos begged, but Arambar had no sympathy for it and with one powerful tug he pulled the Adult Blue Dragon apart.

Tossing Algagos' remains away like so much trash, Arambar spoke in a voice that reminded one of what an ageless mountain would sound like if it could talk. " **Even in death. Enemies of the primordials beware Arambar's wrath!"**

With this bold declaration, the dead primordial's body broke apart once more into the moving stones, leaving nought but the remains of the defeated Dragon and the shocked onlookers as evidence that he had ever manifested.

* * *

The headman of Wandering Stones, known by the villagers as the Stonetalker, was a Dragonborn shaman named Olothon and he had quite happily granted Arche, Lady Taana and their two men room and board for the night. According to him, any friends of Lord Arambar were friends of the village. Arche didn't really approve of such an incautious way of doing things but in the face of the badly needed hospitality, she wasn't about to say anything.

Though the need for such was greatly reduced when a **Gate** portal had opened up in the middle of Wandering Stones a couple hours after they'd made it into town and disgorged the entire 6th Division and a whole _battalion_ 's worth of Sigurd anti-aircraft combat vehicles.

Olothon was notably less accepting of _that_ , but had somewhat reluctantly welcomed the new arrivals too once they'd explained they were all servants of the same primordial as Lady Taana and Arche. He and the other villagers still watched them with some suspicion though, which was understandable considering they'd effectively brought an army into it out of nowhere. Arche was only mildly concerned with that however since maintaining friendly relations with the locals was the responsibility of the commander of the 6th Division. The long haired, green eyed Lakyus that was the Momon with that honor could handle it. She always did say she was adept at charming others did she not? Well it was finally time to put that boasting to the test.

"Lady Arche," one of her subordinate specters that Arche had summoned from Felmid with Lady Taana's approval to replace their unit of scouts said, drawing her out of her thoughts.

"Yes, what is it?" The Momon asked the translucent spirit surrounded by a perpetual cloud of green miasma and dressed in a long tattered but all concealing cloak.

"We have finished processing the corpse as you ordered."

"That's fast." Arche noted, blinking in surprise.

"Lord Ainz showed us his power." The specter said reverentially. "As we were working, we sensed his power and an instant later the carcass was fully processed. And this was lying among it all."

At this the spirit handed her a longbow made from bone with bolts of static electricity arcing up and down its body. Its limbs were made of vertebrae and its riser was made out what looked like the shrunken skull of the beast.

_I think I know who this is for._

* * *

While Arche oversaw the processing of Algagos' corpse, Taana was taking a rest in Wandering Stones' tavern. She should probably have helping her adjutant or maybe the newly arrived 6th Division commander as she tried to make nice with the locals. But she was too tired from the days on the run and a little shaken by her god answering her prayers directly to get up the energy to do either. So here she was, seated in the village tavern having a drink and trying to relax.

"Lady Taana!" Arche shouted as she walked into the tavern, carrying a fancy bow awkwardly with her.

_There goes my chance to relax._ Taana thought with a groan.

"Over here, Arche." Taana said, raising her hand to catch the doll like beauty's attention.

It worked and the Momon came over, a happy smile on her face.

_What's got her so happy all of a sudden. Wasn't she all upset over the men we lost when we first got into town?_

Taana had been too of course, but after the lost of Master Falgrim she couldn't really see death as anything more than something that happened. Maybe if it was one of her family it would be different, but the death of anyone else, even her own men, just didn't seem all that noteworthy to her. So she'd shaken off the guilt easily enough. Besides her men were soldiers, they knew the risks of what they were doing.

"Lady Taana, this is for you." Arche said putting the bow down on the table directly in front of the Shadar-kai.

"Where did you get this?" Taana asked warily as she ran her hands over the exquisite weapon.

_I forged it from that Dragon's bones._ The unmistakable voice of Lord Ainz spoke into Taana's mind. _Consider it my gift to you for all that you have done in my service._

The Shadar-kai Wizard's eyes flew open in surprise as she looked at the bow.

"What is its name, my Lady?" Arche asked suddenly as the stunned silence dragged on.

"Uh, I dunno." Tanna said as she struggled to regain her bearings. "Zing-Wing? Nah! That sounds too childish."

Arche's nod in agreement was confirmation enough that her first attempt at a name for her new bow was a bust.

"But I like the thought though, this is a bow with a zing after all." Taana noted with a chuckle while pointing to the static aura that surrounded the weapon. Mentally though she screamed at herself to stop talking. Unfortunately, she'd been drinking for some time now and there was a enough alcohol in her system to make such attempts futile.

"Maybe Zwing?" Arche suggested with a pained look. "It's an abbreviation and it's not quite so, uh, childish."

_It's not actually that bad._ Taana reasoned as best as she was able in her addled state. _I can play any comments over the name as it being as a word or name from a exotic language or something._

"Sounds good to me." Taana said as she picked up the newly named Zwing. "Thanks Arche."

"It is my honor to be of service." The Momon said with a surprisingly elegant curtsy considering the minimalist skirt she was wearing.

"None of that," Taana said with a drunken grin as she pulled her adjutant into the seat across from her. "As thanks, let's have some drinks together!"

"Uh, Lady Taana, I still have-"

"It can wait!" Taana ordered. "Drink with me!"

The Momon actually eeped at that, something which Taana couldn't help but find adorable. She didn't say that though, instead choosing to wave over the barkeep and order drinks for both of them.

Taana would regret her decision to have drinks with an undead Momon the next day as she dealt with a nasty hangover while Arche remained fine as always. Though she would come to appreciate the way said adjutant would care for her while she languished in its throes. She would however make a mental note to never again go drinking with an undead. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> So how did you guys like the chapter? My main goal with it was to give Taana some growth and to have her develop a friendship outside the party, did it come across well? Let me know in a review.
> 
> And yes, Taana and Arche are friends. I know I have a tendency to make almost every plausibly romantic couple an actual couple but I'm trying to refrain here. So while I think there is chemistry here, I'm keeping them as friends. I'll definitely play up the room for misunderstanding though so expect much teasing about their relationship in the future.
> 
> Well, that's it for me this chapter. Annyeong!


	25. Skelkor War 3: The Liberation Begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 3: The Liberation Begins**

**Beta:**

* * *

Almost two weeks after their emergence from the Underdark and days of marching later, Neia stood atop the corpse of an Adult Red Dragon that had been felled by the railguns of their Sigurd anti-aircraft combat vehicles and addressed a large crowd of faithful gathered before her.

"Praise to Lord Ainz Ooal Gown!" The god's Paladin said with the full breadth of her skill as an Evangelist.

"Praise be to Ainz Ooal Gown!" The crowd replied respectfully.

"Praise to the brave men and women who carried out his will and slew this beast upon which I stand." Neia continued once the crowd quieted once more. "Soon _all_ of you will have the chance to be the instruments of his will, for within a day, two at most, we will be at the walls of Daerr. And there we will teach the tyrants of Skelkor, of Laerakond, of all Toril, everywhere, to fear the name of Ainz Ooal Gown and all those who serve his divine will!"

"Ainz Ooal Gown!" The crowd roared in ecstatic unison.

Neia let them cheer for a long moment but she did not wait for them to quiet on their own this time, instead she raised her hands to signal for them to do so instead. It took a minute or two, but she waited patiently for silence before she continued speaking.

"But that is for the morrow. For now we must mourn and honor the losses of the brave men and women that died to the enemy's raids today and over the past few days. For that I ask all of you to join me in prayer."

A solemn silence came over the crowd at the reminder of all those killed by the probing raids the Dragons had sent against them.

"Let us pray." Neia said into the respectful quiet. "O great Father on Felmid-"

* * *

Some distance away, Drau stood with Yorha, Kuro draped around her neck as always, as they watched Neia's service from a window of the command tent.

"Neia seems to be gathering more and more people with each service." Yorha observed.

Drau nodded in agreement. "The number of true believers have grown faster than even Neia had thought possible."

"True believers?" Yorha questioned.

"All of our soldiers at least nominally believe in Lord Ainz's divinity." Drau explained. "But not all of them see him as _their_ god. Neia's efforts is making that number grow by leaps and bounds."

Yorha and Kuro both nodded in understanding and the sight caused Drau to recalls that yes, the Slime was sapient now.

And hadn't _that_ revelation been a memorable experience

* * *

Twas the night before they were all about to split up and the whole party had gathered to have the evening meal together. They usually did, even as they were busy with managing their army, but this time Drau had insisted. And it was a good idea it seemed as Taana had turned up looking looking like she was having an anxiety attack over her upcoming mission.

"You'll do fine, Taana." Neia said, employing a handful of her Evangelist skills to help relax the young Shadar-kai as she took first crack at reassuring their sister. "I have faith in you. We all do."

"You're capable." Gaul chimed in. "You'll manage this."

"Taana, they're right." Drau told the Wizard, offering her a comforting smile. "I wouldn't ask you to do anything I didn't think you could manage, would I?"

"No, you wouldn't." Taana admitted. "Yeah. I guess, you're all right. I'll manage just fine."

"You'll be awesome." An unfamiliar voice added suddenly.

Acting with the finely honed instincts of seasoned adventurers, they all turn towards the source of the voice, their hands on their weapons. Only to find a purple skinned Human levitating next to Yorha.

"Kuro!" Yorha cried out, smacking the Human lightly. "You startled everyone! You promised you wouldn't."

"Kuro!? He can talk now?" Neia said, voicing everyone's thoughts on the matter.

"Yes." The levitating Human, Kuro?, said with a nod. "It is a pleasure to finally be able to properly converse with my family."

"Why does he sound like some uppity noble?" Taana asked, with her face scrunched up in distaste.

_That's not the issue here!_ Drau wanted to scream but only managed to turn to look at the Shadar-kai incredulously.

"Probably because his intelligence is derived mainly from assimilating the minds of Illithids and Drow?" Gaul suggested, rubbing his chin curiously. "Their arrogance had to manifest somehow."

_Gaul! Not you too!_

"I think you might be correct." Kuro agreed. "Though I wonder if there's any way to be certain?"

"That can wait!" Neia said as she walked over to the Slime and spread her arms. "Welcome to the family!"

_Neia!? I thought you were on my side of this!_

"Uh, Neia, I'm still super corrosive." Kuro said looking at the Paladin with confusion. "I can't hug you."

"Nonsense! Just don't touch me. If you can figure out using levitation to avoid burning the ground, you can manage a hug without touching me."

Kuro looked towards Yorha for guidance, but the swordswoman just gave a shrug whilst sporting an amused grin. Thus without direction, he sighed and gave Neia the awkward hug she was looking for.

"Is no one else freaked out by this development?" Drau asked, unable to hold in her consternation any longer.

"Not really." Gaul said with a chuckle. "I hypothesized this would happen eventually."

"Yeah, I figured it would happen sooner or later too." Taana added. "He does eat minds after all. It was only a matter of time he developed a thinking mind of his own."

"I'm just happy to have a new member of the family." Neia confessed, before swiftly turning to Kuro and correcting herself. "Not that you weren't a member before, but-"

"I get it." Kuro assured her with a smile.

"If it's any consolation Drau, I _was_ surprised when he told me." Yorha told her with a grin. "Though I don't think I was quite as shocked as you are."

"You weren't." Kuro assured her.

Drau just looked at the assembled members of her family and their totally nonchalant reaction to this revelation and couldn't help but feel flabbergasted.

_My family is insane!_

* * *

"So what's the plan for our attack on the city?" Kuro asked from Yorha's shoulder, pulling Drau out of her thoughts.

"Right." She said as she shook her head to clear her thoughts and walked over to a nearby holographic display projecting the image of the walled city and its surroundings.

"So here's the plan-"

* * *

A day later, Drau stood in the command tent and watched the tactical display before her as it showed their army arranging themselves in positions around Daerr in preparation to besiege the city.

"I'm surprised the Dragons in the city haven't sortied out to try and stop us from entrenching ourselves." Drau commented to her adjutant Fluder without taking her eyes off the display.

"Perhaps after their recent losses, they have chosen to be more cautious?"

"I'm hoping they're being not _too_ cautious." Drau said with a frown. "Our plan hinges on them still having some of their innate aggression."

Her hopes were answered when a number of hostile markers rose into the air from the city and quickly resolved into Dragons. Dozens of them.

"It seems that you needn't have worried, my Lady, they still have some fight in them."

"Indeed." Drau said with a grin. "Are our AA (anti-aircraft) in position?"

"Yes, my Lady. They were deployed ahead of time and are hidden under invisibility spells just as you requested." Fluder told her with a hungry gleam to his eyes. "They are ready."

"Then give the order."

"With pleasure." The elderly looking Momon said before turning towards the Human woman manning the comms and had her relaying orders to the AA units to open fire at will.

They responded almost immediately and Drau watched the tactical display with pleasure as the Dragons who had foolishly sortied out in a bid to disrupt their siegework construction were massacred by volleys of David missiles and streams of supersonic projectiles fired from the railguns of their Sigurd anti-aircraft combat vehicles. Many of the enemy had shrouded themselves in various protective auras and spells and that helped. Against the first few dozen or so hits that is, but there were thousands of anti-air rounds and hundreds of missiles being shot at them. Faced with such ferocity, all but the most powerful spells soon failed and those they protected were torn apart.

Some however either by virtue of possessing stronger protective spells or being closer to the city when the killing started or just dumb luck made it back to the relative safety of the ground beyond Daerr's walls. Most though, more than three dozen at least, died. Their carcasses falling from the sky in full view of the city's population

_Just as planned._

* * *

While Drau commanded the operation from the command tent, Kuro and Yorha had opted to take a more direct role in the liberation of the city. Thus Kuro was in his massive sized slug form with Yorha riding atop his head as they stood among the ranks of the infantry tasked with being the first wave to storm the city when the time came.

They thus had the pleasure of having a nice view of the massacre of the Dragons that Drau's trap had reaped. The whole lot of them watching with grim satisfaction as the arrogant Dragon tyrants were shot out of the sky like little more than flies by their AA.

"Now for the next act." Yorha said, her voice tinged with anticipation.

They didn't have to wait long before the roar of their artillery sounded. Well out of any ranges that Daerr's defenders or most on Toril would have expected or believed possible, Jericho missile artillery and Panzerhaubitze self-propelled howitzers began unloading their payload.

The walls of Daerr were twenty feet thick on average and made of solid stone. They were even magically reinforced in points of key importance or weakness. They were made to withstand the attack of the most powerful monsters and the mightiest of invading armies. They were not however designed to withstand bunker-busting artillery shells and deep penetration explosives. Thus as these rained down on the walls, they crumbled like a sand castle before a wave.

"Casters, open the **Gate** s." Yorha shouted down at the various Wizards mixed into their formation, even as the artillery barrage petered out. The two of them weren't exactly part of the chain of command of the units they stood among, but everyone in their army deferred to them nonetheless as Chosen of Ainz Ooal Gown.

Thus her shouted command served to snap the Wizards out of their awed stupor at the sight of Daerr's collapsing walls and they began hastily casting their spells. Within seconds, dozens of large portals stood in front of their troops and Yorha raised her sword in the air.

Pointing it at the swirling oval of darkness in front of them, she gave the order they'd all been waiting for. "Charge!"

As one hundreds of men and machines poured through the portals and exited directly pass the ruins of Daerr's walls. A feat possible thanks to the line of sight provided to their Wizards due to the destruction of the obscuring walls.

Caught completely off guard by the series of unexpected events, Daerr's defenders could barely mount anything resembling a credible resistance. They were thus largely helpless as they were mowed down by fireteams of plasma and laser gun wielding soldiers, run over by railgun equipped Hippo armored personnel carriers or shot to pieces by the guns of the Scorpion light tanks.

In the midst of this bloodbath, Kuro slithered his way through the streets of the city turned battleground. His pseudopods lashing out at anything that looked remotely hostile, leaving the fortunate with debilitatingly painful acid burns while the unlucky were pulled into his main body to be consumed.

"Kuro, over there." Yorha said pointing to a plaza nearby where a trio of Wyrmling Green Dragons were fighting back to back and using their corrosive breath weapon to hold back their troops.

"I see it," the Blacklight Slime told her and changed direction.

"I'll go ahead." Yorha said as she crouched down. "Catch up as soon as you can."

"Will do."

He doubted she heard his reply, the android had leapt off his head and activated her **Sword Blitz** skill as soon as she finished her sentence. The skill usually allowed her to shoot through a throng of enemies at high speed whilst cutting down foes all along her path. Here however she was using it to shoot herself through the empty air towards the plaza like a bullet.

The perfectly timed skill cut off just over a particularly tall building around the plaza where the Dragons were and she fell the few feet to its roof in a graceful crouch. One of the Wyrmlings noticed her and turned to breath its breath at her. Kuro wasn't worried. If she was immune to _his_ corrosiveness then what was a Green Dragon's breath? Not that it mattered since she leapt from the crumbling building before the stream of chlorine gas that the Wyrmling breathed out got anywhere close to her.

" **Beast Cutter."** Kuro heard her whisper as she swung her sword at her attacker, unleashing an energy wave that vertically bisected the Dragon.

The two remaining Wyrmlings responded to this with alarm and recoiled from her. With all their attention on Yorha, they completely failed to notice as Kuro whipped a dozen long pseudopods at the closest Dragon.

His opponent struggled to get free but it was hopeless. Kuro had many times its biomass to play with and had made the pseudopods that now bound it more than strong enough to keep it restrained. Thus its thrashing were futile as the Blacklight Slime smothered the Wyrmling with its body and began digesting its latest meal.

While this happened, Kuro had noticed a nearby boom and had wondered what it was but had been too busy dealing with his newest victim to really see what it was. Now with the Wyrmling Green Dragon being consumed, he turned towards the source of the noise to see the smoking barrel of a Scorpion light tank.

Glancing at the last of the juvenile Dragons, Kuro was pleased to note that its neck had been severed by the aforementioned tank's mass driver main gun.

"Good shot!" Kuro complimented the tank crew, whilst he formed an oversized humanoid fist out of a pseudopod and gave them a thumbs up.

"Kuro, let's go. There are plenty more fights for us." Yorha said as she jumped on his back and made her way back up to his head.

"Right." The Blacklight Slime told her as he surveyed their surroundings for another skirmish that needed their intervention.

"Go further into the city." Yorha advised. "We'll shadow our troops' advance, surely we'll find somewhere to offer help doing that."

"Gotcha." Kuro said as he turned towards the city center and began moving towards it and the fighting ahead.

* * *

"Rise up! Rise up against your oppressors!" Neia shouted, putting all her charisma as an Evangelist into her words alongside the various skills she was using in rotation to boost it further. Cool down being a pain and not allowing her to use them all at once.

"People of Daerr! Be slaves no more! Rise up and join us! Together let us overthrow the Dragons!" The Paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown said with full conviction into the microphone in front of her as she rode atop a specially modified Hippo armored personnel carrier as it and its escorting column of various armored vehicles drove down the city's streets.

In a normal city mainly populated by humanoids on Toril like Daerr was this would've been impossible without wrecking buildings on either side of the road. The streets would simply be too narrow. However, Daerr's Draconic overlords had made it possible with their insistence on roads large enough to accommodate their large bodies.

"You have seen them fall dead from the sky yourselves," Neia continued speaking as the armored column advanced deeper and deeper into the comparatively cluttered slave residential district. Where the main streets were wide to allow Dragons comfortable passage, the houses of their slaves were crammed together into clusters that maximized occupancy and minimized land use, but completely ignored privacy or sanitation.

"Do not be afraid! The Dragons are about to fall! Rise up and join us in taking them down!" Neia urged the teeming masses of slaves that were increasingly pouring out of the pathetic tenements that they were forced to call home.

"The only one about to fall here is you!" An Adult Red Dragon roared as it flew towards them. "Di-!"

It had been preparing to unleash its deadly fiery breath weapon at them and the various armored vehicles in Neia's column had been turning their weapons to take it out before it could, but she had beaten them all to the kill.

Moving with a speed that only a veteran adventurer could manage, she'd pulled Ultimate Shooting Star Super off her back, nocked an arrow, activated **Dragon Slaying Arrow** and loosed. Thus before the Dragon could even finish its sentence a golden streak had slammed into its snout and detonated. The force of the blast easily decapitated the huge monster and its corpse fell out of the air to crash into the street it had been flying low over.

The crowd of slaves which had cowered, with some even fleeing, at the sight of the incoming Dragon were stunned into silence for a moment. This didn't last. As the realization of what they had just seen settled into their minds, a massive cheer went up among them.

"See the power of Ainz Ooal Gown!" Neia said, only the speakers of the sound system that had been installed onto her Hippo allowing her to be heard over the rapturous crowds. "See our power! Rise up! Join us!"

This time her call which until now had only drawn a quiet, curious interest from the slaves was met with an enthusiastic response.

"Rise up! Rise up!" The crowds cheered in chorus as weapons of all kinds from proper swords to improvised ones like kitchen knives and clubs were quickly spread among its masses and it transformed from a group of passive onlookers into a revolutionary mob.

With the chant of "Rise up! Rise up!" spreading out from her advancing column to slowly but surely be picked up by the majority of the slaves of Daerr, Neia led them unerringly towards the city center and the ostentatious palace from which its governor ruled.

* * *

"This palace is ridiculously over the top." Drau said with a shake of her head as she looked at the towers and pavilions of gleaming marble, black and white in a checkerboard design, that was the governor's palace at the heart of Dearr. All around the buildings were perfectly tended plants in such number that calling it a garden would be underselling it. It was a forest. Fitting considering the Ancient Green Dragon that laired there.

"Indeed, my Lady." Fluder said from where he stood next to her in the command tent that had been relocated to a square midway between the governor's palace and the city's ruined walls.

"He's still not willing to negotiate?" Drau asked her adjutant, looking away from the palace.

"No, my Lady." Fluder told her with a shake of his head. "He's killed the last two sets of envoys we sent to get him to talk."

"The bastard." Drau cursed. "If he didn't have hostages-"

But he did. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of them. When the walls had fallen, Cethakus, Dragon Governor of Daerr had not bothered to organize a defense. Instead, he'd spent all his effort rounding up as many slaves and herding them into his palace to serve as living shields instead.

"We could send a team in to-"

"The only team that would stand a chance going in there would be my party." Drau said cutting the Momon off. "And I'd only take us in if we were all here."

"But you alone can-"

"Only by taking one of my Draconic forms." Drau said with a frown. "And that would almost certainly create a panic among the freed slaves of Daerr. We'd go from liberators to just another Draconic oppressor. I don't want to waste time dealing with that."

"I'm sure we can handle it fairly quickly. Especially if we have Lady Neia's help." Fluder argued.

"It would still take too long." Drau insisted. "We need to reinforce Taana ASAP."

"We could split off a contingent of our troops now and send them to her."

"Without first giving them a victory?" Drau asked with a raised eyebrow. "And risk the hit to their morale?"

"It's not that great a risk."

"Maybe not." Drau allowed. "But one I'm not willing to take."

"Then what shall we do?" Fluder asked, looking at a loss.

In lieu of a direct answer, Drau turned to the comms operator.

"Contact the artillery units."

"You can't intend to-" Fluder said, looking shocked.

"I am."

"But what of the hostages?" The elderly looking undead creature asked, more curious than anything else.

"Will be considered collateral damage. They are inevitable in war, the people of Daerr will more easily stomach that than seeing me transform into a Dragon and fighting Cethakus."

"I suppose." Fluder said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "But if they find out later?"

"Then we'll handle it then." Drau said dismissively before addressing the comms operator. "The artillery?"

"They await your orders, ma'am." The woman said, her professionalism largely hid her thoughts on Drau's chosen course of action but there was a definite air of approval radiating from her.

The command tent was permeated by it. Drau was not surprised. Like the gods of Nazarick they all followed, they might have benevolent intentions but they would not avoid resorting to evil actions if necessary or even if it was convenient. Such was the mindset fostered by her Father.

"Tell them to fire on the governor's palace. Bring it down on top of the idiot governor's head."

"Yes ma'am!" The Human replied with enthusiasm as she began relaying her order.

Drau meanwhile returned to the tent window that gave her a view of the governor's palace and watched with satisfaction as missiles and artillery shells rained down upon it. A gargantuan mass of green scaled flesh tried to rise from under the barrage and the crumbling ruins of the once luxurious palace but Cethakus' efforts just made him a target.

He shielded himself as best he could with his magic. He had what looked like a dozen different spells enshrouding his form. But it wasn't enough and they soon shattered, leaving his body subject to the fury of the massed artillery under which even the legendary durability of a Dragon failed.

He unleashed his deadly corrosive chlorine gas breath weapon with abandon hoping to take some of them with him but the forces surrounding his palace had prepared for it and hundreds of magical barriers went up, preventing the gas from spreading even as a host of air spells channeled the gas skywards and away from the city. He probably would have easily countered it with his own formidable magic. Unfortunately, he was being torn to pieces by artillery fire and was in no position to muster the concentration to do such a thing.

He tried to fly away but his wings failed him. Being one of the first targets of the precise artillery, his vast membranous wings were long since torn to shreds and under the barrage he lacked the focus needed to use magic to achieve flight.

Thus it was that Cethakus, Governor Dragon of Daerr, died whilst being utterly unable to properly defend himself, retaliate or even flee. He died a humiliating death. The only kind of death befitting a slaver.

Seeing this beautiful sight, Drau smiled.

* * *

" _And so with this moment of silence and our heartfelt prayers we honor all those, willing and unwilling, friend and enemy, that died to make our victory possible."_ Neia said as she bowed her head and the assembled thousands maintained a respectful moment of silence.

Even from where she was in the command tent for their army and watching the service in the ruins of the governor's palace via audiovisual feed, silence reigned. It was a sincere mark of respect after all and one Yorha too adhered to.

" _And now-"_ Neia said as she broke the silence and Yorha turned from the holographic display broadcasting the service to look if Drau would see her now.

The aforementioned Dragon was finishing up a discussion with her adjutant, the Momon named Fluder Paradyne, and gestured to Yorha to wait a moment longer.

"Wonder what they're talking about." Kuro said curiously from her shoulder where he rested in his favored tiny slug like form.

"They're discussing the logistics of splitting our army up so we can move on separate targets." Yorha told him, gesturing to the rectangular computer the Momon was using to show Drau something as they talked. "Fluder has the relevant data pulled up on his tablet."

"Oh," Kuro said sounding disappointed, probably hoping that the topic of discussion was something more exciting. Sadly, contrary to popular belief, much of what was involved in running a military campaign was hardly exciting at all.

Drau and Fluder finished up a few moments later and Drau walked over.

"Was it necessary?" Yorha asked without preamble once her leader came within the polite distance for a conversation. They all knew what she was talking about.

"Completely? No. We had other options."

"Then why?" Yorha asked heatedly. "Thousands of hostages died, Drau. Thousands!"

"It was expedient." Drau admitted with a shrug.

Yorha stilled and ran through all she knew of the situation again. She weighed the pros and cons like she knew Drau would have. And… She was sad to say she came up with the same outcome. She'd have made the same call.

"Dammit." Yorha hissed in frustration.

"It's alright Yorha." Kuro said, rubbing his body against her neck comfortingly. "We aren't here to be saints. We're fighting a war. People _will_ die as collateral damage."

"I know, but it's just-"

"Yorha," Drau said taking one of the android's hands and squeezing gently. "I won't promise that I won't do the same sort of thing again. But I will promise to try not to."

Yorha offered the Dragon a nod and squeezed her hand back. "Please do."

"So we all good again?" Kuro asked cautiously and both women let go of each other's hands, before offering him nods.

The Slime sighed in relief and Yorha couldn't help the amused smile at his oh so Humanesque behavior.

"Why don't you two go have a rest?" Drau suggested. "You deserve it."

"Alright." Yorha said as she turned to leave. "Don't commit any more war crimes while I'm gone."

She honestly didn't know if she was being serious or just joking like her tone implied. Maybe both? Either way, it was a peace offering and one Drau readily accepted.

"I won't." The Dragon said with a slight giggle.

Smiling at that, Yorha left with Kuro in tow. It had been a long day and she _really_ wanted a rest right now. By her Slime friend's silence, he agreed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hoped you gives liked the chapter.
> 
> So I think there's some things I need to address here.
> 
> Firstly, the one sided victory for the party and their army. In regards to that, keep in mind that this is an Overlord crossover and a key theme of Overlord is the overpowered nature of Nazarick's forces. I've had to buff them a little to allow them to maintain that level of OPness but it's a theme I want to keep so this is just par for the course.
> 
> Secondly, were Drau's decisions militarily sound? I'm not a military strategist so I can't fully say. I think they mostly are except maybe the decision surrounding reinforcing Taana and thus the related one to bombard the governor's palace. Why did I include a decision that even I find doubtful? Simple. Drau is not exactly created or trained to be a general, she's winging it. If even career generals can make mistakes, we can't expect someone like Drau to be perfect.
> 
> That's all for this chapter. La revedere!


	26. Skelkor War 4: The Horror of Arangyn

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 4: The Horror of Arangyn**

**Beta:**

* * *

At the same time as Drau, Yorha and Kuro were attacking Daerr, Gauldoth was leading his army of undead to attack the city of Arangyn, Skelkor's only major trade port, to cut off the empire's access to the sea.

Riding his Soul Seater mount in the middle of the formations of his minions, Gaul looked over his troops and couldn't help the annoyance that bubbled to the surface.

_Why is it that I get stuck with the weakest of our armies._

Made up mostly of Skeletons of various types and Zombie Squires, his forces might be formidable by the standards of Toril but it paled in comparison to the well trained ex-slaves of their other forces equipped as they were with formidable Felmidian equipment. Not when his troops were equipped mostly with inferior swords and shields.

The disparity had been so stark that Drau had seen fit to supplement his legions with armored and artillery units. Admittedly the various tanks, AA combat vehicles, howitzers and other vehicles were a necessary addition but it still rankled. It showed the faults in the undead legions he'd built. The only consolation was that the units attached to him were staffed not by living ex-slaves but the Felmidian undead commanded by Momons.

Gaul didn't know if he could live down having to rely on the living to augment his forces. Though that these pure Felmidians were rightfully considered elites and the idea that he needed them just highlighted the weakness of his own troops even more.

Despite his frustrations however Gaul was not about to waver. Drau had given him a mission and he would accomplish it. While he had not always seen eye to eye with his leader, he _did_ respect her and was thus unwilling to disappoint her.

"Lord Gauldoth," the Momon that had been assigned as his adjutant said suddenly from her place atop her own Soul Eater mount to his right, pulling him from his thoughts.

"What is it?" Gaul asked of the undead creature with the seeming of a beautiful woman with her brown hair styled into a bob-shaped cut that covered her forehead and was secured with a white hairband. She was dressed in the light armor and robes of a priest and had facial features that gave the impression that she was constantly plotting some scheme or the other. Something which for the elite undead commanders of Felmid he wouldn't gainsay as untrue.

"Our scouts have just reported in." Kelart Custodio informed him dutifully. "According to their reports, we should reach Arangyn by tomorrow."

"That is good news." Gaul told her. "Are Lord Mirelurk's forces in position?"

"Give me a moment, my lord. Let me check." The Momon said before casting a quick **Message** spell. She spoke quietly so Gaul couldn't hear what she said clearly, not that he cared to.

Cutting the telepathic connection that her spell created, Kelart returned her attention to him. "Lord Mirelurk reports that his forces shall be in position by tonight and will await your signal thereafter."

Gaul nodded with a grin hidden by the visor of his helm. He was so looking forward to the surprise he'd prepared for the upcoming battle.

"My Lord, might I ask a question?" Kelart asked after a moment.

"Speak."

"Do you think the slaves in Arangyn will raise up in support of us if we show them that we can kill their Dragonic overlords?

"It's unlikely." Gaul replied. "Our undead nature will offset any goodwill we gain by being liberators. That's why I did not factor that into account for our strategy to take the city like I know the other armies have."

Kelart nodded. "I was wondering about that."

"It will not matter." Gaul reassured her. "We will succeed even without that advantage."

"I'm sure we will, my Lord."

Gaul ignored her sycophantic reply. He knew well that the Felmidians idolized him and his party as the Chosen of Ainz Ooal Gown. He did not fully know why, though after his experience with Lady Shalltear he had his suspicions. Whatever those reasons might be however it did not change the fact that dealing with the awestruck Felmidians who saw him as somehow divine in some way was frustrating. Thankfully, most could keep their cool and professionalism, and Kelart was one of them for the large part though even she had her moments.

"Are our mages keeping the spells up like I requested?" Gaul asked, hoping to ward off any gushing on Kelart's part.

"Yes, my Lord." She assured him. "We're rotating them to ensure the coverage is maintained at all times."

"Good." Gaul said with a pleased grin. "It wouldn't do to ruin Arangyn's surprise."

* * *

Arangyn was a large sprawling city, as befit the only major port of an empire as rich and powerful as Skelkor. It sat on the delta of the river whose waters that flowed down from Crescent Lake and a number of smaller glacier fed tributaries and was thus surrounded by a fertile floodplain. One that its inhabitants had exploited to build a series of farms that stretched out for miles outside the port city's formidable looking walls. Though that wasn't the only things spilling out of its walls as whole districts of the city had likewise been built outside their protection, though as Kelart surveyed the city from the eyes of one of her specter scouts it seemed that work was underway to expand the walls to enclose these new districts.

"Are they expecting us?" Lord Gauldoth asked impatiently from where he rode just ahead of Kelart.

"No, my lord." Kelart informed him. "It seems that they are wholly unaware of our arrival. Though their guard _is_ up. Presumably as a result of news of our invasion in general."

It seemed Lord Gauldoth's plan to use anti-divination and obscurification spells to hide the presence of their advance had paid off.

"How is their guard up? More patrols?"

"Yes, my lord. There are also a handful of Dragons lairing in temporary or half-complete forts on the outskirts of the city as well."

"Pickets? No, the Dragons would be too proud for that. They're probably there to command the actual pickets."

"It is as you say, my lord. They are at least half a mile away from the enemy's furthermost sentries. Often more."

"Have the artillery units sight the Dragons. Not just the ones outside. All of them or as many of them as possible. Prioritize the older ones." Lord Gauldoth ordered. "Do not give them a chance to join the fight."

"Yes, my lord." Kelart said dutifully as she used **Message** to relay the order to the appropriate subordinate to disseminate down the chain of command.

"Done?" Lord Gauldoth asked with his usual impatience a moment later.

"Yes, my lord."

"Good. Then once the artillery have their weapons trained on their targets we can begin the show."

"As you say, my Lord." Kelart said with an enthusiastic grin. She couldn't wait for the fireworks to begin. It would be a glorious sight to behold.

* * *

Jotran was a Halfling and like all non-Dragons native to Skelkor he was a slave. He however did not mind his lot in life over much. The Dragons for all that they were tyrants and cared nothing for the lives of the slaves, still needed things done that they couldn't or didn't want to do themselves. Exploiting this fact, Jotran like so many others had found a way to be useful to his overlords and through that secure for himself some measure of a good life. In his case this meant joining the Skelkor military, using his skills as a Rogue to earn himself the right to a decent standard of living for him and his family in the port city of Arangyn.

It wasn't much by the standards of free Halflings elsewhere in the world if what the traders that came through the port since the Blue Breath of Change swept over them claimed were true but it was enough for him and he was happy with that. Which was why he was employing all his skills as a rogue to scour his city for any signs of infiltrators.

In recent days reports of an army with strange weapons and magic that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and declared that they were there to liberate the slaves of Skelkor had reached the city. Jotran was sure whoever these upstarts were they'd be crushed like all other rebellions before them, no matter what gimmicks they had at their disposal. The Dragon overlords didn't seem to agree though. They were taking the threat seriously and had put the city on high alert even though there was no sign of the enemy being anywhere near them. Last Jotran had heard, the fools were marching towards their doom at Dearr.

Jotran was pulled from his thoughts suddenly though as his Blindsense detected something ahead of him in the dark back alley in which he was patrolling. Pulling out a pair of daggers, lightly enchanted and strictly on loan from the Dragon governor of the city, he sneaked up on the mostly transparent and faintly luminous form of a Specter. Considering that the Dragons would never permit undead into the city, there was no doubt this was an infiltrator. Though considering the stupid thing was just standing in darkness of the alley peeping out at the street beyond, it wasn't doing a very good job of it.

_Time to earn my keep._ Jotran thought as he prepared to strike.

Before he could however the ground shook and the sound of titanic explosions washed over the city.

_What the-_

Jotran couldn't finish the thought as the moment the explosions struck, the Specter had turned towards him and shot through him like a wispy arrow of darkness. The moment it made contact the Halfling Rogue knew he was dead as a surge of cold had spread almost instantly to suffuse his entire body. He was no fool. He knew that was the necrotic power of the Specter.

Collapsing forward, Jotran could only watch in growing horror as a portal of darkness opened where the Specter had been hovering when he'd found it.

_A_ _ **Gate**_ _portal,_ Jotran's dimming mind supplied. _So that's why it was just standing there. It was the marker for the spell._

This realization was the last proper thought the Halfling slave ever had as the last of his life drained from him. As his eyes lost its living luster for the last time however it glimpsed one last scene that would send his soul screaming to the afterlife in horror, for it saw hordes of undead pouring out of the **Gate** portal and into his city radiating their contempt for the living.

* * *

Meroful Homma was a Human from Beregost and owner-captain of a private trading ship, the _Adventure_ , that operated out of Waterdeep. As a child she'd always wanted to be an adventurer and explore the unknown like so many legendary heroes before her had done. But sadly her family business needed her and she'd put away her childhood dreams to learn the trade of a merchant. Her only concession to her old ambitions was her decision, against her family's wishes, to take her _Adventure_ out to explore the new continent of Laerakond for trading opportunities.

However, as she beheld the sight before her she found herself cursing her foolish wanderlust.

Just moments ago, the port city of Arangyn was normal. Well, as normal as a city in a slaving Dragon empire could be anyway. Which was surprisingly so, since to Meroful at least it was not much different from most of the other ports she'd visited. Even the slave trading wasn't exactly novel. Unsavory yes, but not new.

Then as Meroful was loading the _Adventure_ with a fresh load of trade goods that she'd managed to buy from the local markets, suddenly the world went insane. First, projectiles flew in from over the horizon and slammed into the city. It was a sight that had her thinking some kind of vengeful god had come to pass its judgement on the city's overlords, especially since she knew the city's layout well enough to spot how the continuing rain of projectiles and the explosions they caused were centered on the lairs of the Dragons who ruled the city. Dragons whose howls of agony were only just drowned out by the thunderous barrage killing them.

As if that wasn't bad enough, moments after the rain of death began falling on the city the waters of the city's harbor began churning violently. Meroful panicked and ordered all hands to abandon ship. With the turbulent waters there was no chance of escaping into open water and loathe as she was to do so she had to give up on the _Adventure_. The lives of her crew was more important.

It was in hindsight the right call.

Her men were just scrambling off the ship when the source of the sudden tumultuous seas revealed itself as no less than a Zombie Kraken that breached the surface of the city's harbor and with a casual swing of one of it's rotting tentacles smashed the _Adventure_ to bits taking at least half her men who were still aboard at the time with it.

Meroful would have cried, but she was a little too busy running for her life to muster up the ability to do so.

"Morninglord preserve us," one of her crew prayed and Meroful found herself offering a similar wordless plea to Lord Lathander.

Sadly, he did not answer as Meroful and her surviving crew found themselves face to face with a squad of waterlogged looking Zombies who were hauling a massively swollen corpse onto land.

"To arms!" Meroful shouted, drawing her own cutlass. If she was going to die today, she would die fighting.

The brave men that they were, her crew drew what weapons they had on hand or if they were unarmed picked up whatever they could around them.

The majority of the Zombies ignored her and her men's defiance however and having pulled one distended corpse ashore simply proceeded to do the same to another. The first grossly inflated corpse however sprang to unlife, revealing itself as a Zombie in its own right. One that promptly turned its attention to Meroful and her men and began running at them in an ungainly but undeniably swift sprint.

"For Beregost!" Meroful shouted as she charged the disgusting creature, her men following behind her.

It was the last mistake they ever made. As the moment they got close, but well before their weapons could have reached it, the Bloated Corpse suddenly exploded in a poisonous shower of razor sharp bone fragments, decomposing internal organs and diseased fluids. In an instant the last remains of the _Adventure_ 's crew were wiped out.

* * *

Watching from the safety of the nearby heights overlooking Arangyn, Gaul watched in satisfaction as his plan came together. Thanks to scouting ahead with Specters and using them to help sight their artillery, he'd managed to annihilate most of the city's Dragonic population in the opening salvos. Salvos that then covered his undead minions as they used **Gate** spells to directly emerge in the heart of the city thanks to the Specters and the use of **Undeath Slave Sight** to target the aforementioned portals. That alone would have sowed immense amounts of chaos and confusion, but Gauldoth was not done. No, he had one final trick to use against the terrified city in the form of the Zombie Kraken and various aquatic Zombie variants he'd loaned from Lord Mirelurk who had emerged from the harbor in an impressive display.

"It seems we have won." Kelart told him as she stood next to him observing the total disorder that was sweeping through the city below.

"Do not count your chickens before they hatch, as they say on Felmid." Gaul told her in a slight reprimand. "Do we have confirmation that the city's governor is dead?"

Said governor was an Ancient Black Dragon named Isrendra and was probably the biggest hurdle to taking the city. If she survived, she stood a decent, if low, chance of single handedly fighting off their whole army.

Kelart was silent for a moment as she confirmed the answer.

"Yes, my lord." The Momon priest said after a minute. "One of my Specters has visual confirmation of her corpse."

"Good. And the surviving Dragons?"

Kelart gestured to the city below, specifically the northern quarter where an Adult Yellow Dragon whose body was littered in wounds of all kinds was flying low and attempting to use the city's buildings as some kind of cover. It was a futile effort as a precise volley from a battery of Jericho missile artillery fell on its position and killed it.

"Systematically being exterminated, my Lord." The Momon said with sadistic glee.

"Very well. Then let us head into the city." Gaul said as he kicked his mount lightly in the side and it began trotting down the road to Arangyn.

"Yes, my Lord." Kelart said promptly as she followed after him.

She began shouting commands to their escorts to form up and soon Gaul was surrounded by hundreds of black armored knights riding red-eyed unicorns. These were Death Cavaliers and were undead created by Lord Ainz himself and loaned to Gaul to serve as his personal guard for the campaign in Skelkor. Around this core formed dozens of armored vehicles that ran the full gamut from mighty Scorpions to simple Hippos that formed a wall of solid steel around Gaul as they advanced towards the city.

It was a slow procession, Gaul was in no hurry, and by the time they reached the city center the whole metropolis was secured. His minions had even managed to finish herding the city's surviving population into the massive amphitheater that dominated the heart of the city. Originally used by its Dragonic overlords when they met to discuss matters, now it was filled to overflowing with Arangyn's huddled, fearful masses. Many of whom were trying, and mostly failing, to give wide berths to the corpses of their masters that Gaul had ordered brought to the venue as well.

"Ah." The necromancer said in satisfaction as he trotted into the gargantuan building and most of his escorts peeled off to secure the surrounding area. "It is good to have such capable subordinates."

He could practically feel Kelart beaming behind him at the compliment but he did not turn to face her. Instead he continued walking his horse to the center of the amphitheater's stage, directly in front of the battered remains of Isrendra and where said Ancient Black Dragon had once held court. Not bothering to dismount, Gauldoth turned to face the crowds of her former slaves.

"Greetings people of Arangyn." Gaul said with none of Neia's charisma and his voice carrying only due to the excellent acoustics of the venue. "I am your liberator Gauldoth Half-dead."

He didn't expect a cheer but the dead silence at his introduction annoyed him nonetheless. As such it was with a hint of displeasure that he continued, which in turn engendered even more fear in the crowd.

"You are now free of the Dragons. Some might think me here to subjugate you for myself, but you would be wrong. I serve the undead primordial, Ainz Ooal Gown, and he has declared that Skelkor be liberated and thus here I am. One of the instruments of his will."

Many within the crowd of the living paled at the mere thought of an undead primordial, the ignorant fools that they were being wholly unaware of the immense power and majesty of the Supreme One.

"Whether you believe my words or not, I care not." Gaul said with a shrug. "I serve my Master's will and that is all. But before I leave your fair city in the care of my lieutenants and continue in the liberation of your homeland, there _is_ one thing I want you to see."

With that Gauldoth looked to Kelart who had taken a respectful position just off stage and received a nod back to show that everything was ready. Doing his own quick survey to ensure she was indeed correct, he was pleased to see that dozens of his fellows necromancers were scattered throughout the amphitheater as he requested.

" **Create Low Tier Undead!"** Gauldoth cast, soon echoed by the other necromancers under his command.

At their invocation, necrotic energies flooded the amphitheater before streaming into the carcasses of the various Dragons that once ruled this city who now as one slowly staggered to their undead feet. For they had been raised, one and all, as Zombie Dragons.

Most dramatically was the reanimated corpse of Isrendra herself who now loomed behind Gauldoth.

The whole display was met by stunned silence and a spike in the already pungent aroma of fear that had wrapped around the crowds like a cloak all this time.

_They should be scared. This is but a small taste of our might._

"Look upon your former masters and see the might of your liberators."

The people of Arangyn did and beheld despair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hope you liked this shorter chapter.
> 
> Gauldoth is really not a people person. Here he was supposed to be liberating Arangyn and while he defeated the Dragons ruling the place, he also terrified the populace in the process. Which considering his character is just par for the course.
> 
> Well, that's it for this chapter. Till next time perpisahan!


	27. Skelkor War 5: Cracking Bellakh

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 5: Cracking Bellakh**

**Beta:**

* * *

News had reached Taana a couple days after their arrival in Wandering Stones that in addition to Dearr, Arangyn had been successfully liberated as well. Reports that were delivered by reinforcements from the Dearr front that used Lakyus's 6th Division as a nucleus to form a new army. One which Drau had tasked Taana to use to secure their rear. With the rest of their forces pushing northwest and northeast in a bid to encircle the Skelkor capital of Marangor, that left the Shadar-kai and her army with two possible targets: Bellakh and Mratanga.

"I recommend we hit Bellakh first." Lakyus argued as their army's senior commanders gathered in the command tent they'd set up just outside Wandering Stones to discuss their next move. "Our base camp in the passes has Mratanga cut off, so we can leave it be for now. Bellakh though is in the perfect position for the enemy to use as a base to cut off our supply lines between Arangyn and Daerr."

"Is that a major problem?" Taana asked with a raised eyebrow. "Most of our supplies are delivered directly from Felmid via **Gate**."

"I think Lakyus misspoke, Lady Taana," Arche said, briefly shooting the other Momon a smirk for some reason. "Rather than supply lines, I think she meant line of advance. Lord Gauldoth's army is currently at Arangyn and wherever he goes, it'll be vulnerable to attack from Bellakh. He can't move his whole army, at least not swiftly, by **Gate**."

"That makes more sense." Taana said with a nod. "Plus if we just leave Bellakh alone they can just attack Arangyn and Daerr once we've moved on."

"Exactly, my Lady." Arche said with a grin and Lakyus rolled her eyes.

"So we've decided, my Lady? We're attacking Bellakh?"

"Yes, Lakyus." Taana said with a decisive nod. "Go ready the men to move out."

"With pleasure." The green eyed Momon declared as she left to do just that, barking orders at her subordinates even as she walked.

* * *

"Arche," Lady Taana said to catch her attention as the Momon Wizard was busy watching Lakyus march off with all the grace of the harridan that she was.

"Yes, Lady Taana?" She asked her superior curiously.

"What's your history with Lakyus?"

"So you've noticed?" Arche said with an embarrassed blush. The two of them hadn't exactly been hiding it but she and Lakyus hadn't been shouting it from the rooftops either, so being called out was still a little disconcerting.

"It's obvious. You two exchange familiar looks all the time." Lady Taana said with a shrug. "So tell me what's going on between you two. Are you lovers?"

"W-What!? No." Arche said, waving her hands in fervent denial.

While it was not unheard of for Momons to engage in sexual relations, their human forms were anatomically fully functional after all. They did so rarely and formed lasting romantic relationships even more so. Being undead didn't exactly give one much of a libido or a need for romance. All that mattered to Momons were being of service to the Bone Father.

"Then what exactly? Friends? I know you two can't be siblings, since all you Momons are born directly from the soil of Felmid and the Bone Father's will."

"It is true that we spontaneously spawn and crawl out of the ground on Felmid, my Lady, but we do occasionally form fraternal or sororal relationships with each other."

"So is that it? Is Lakyus your sister?"

"Not quite?" Arche said with an unsure shrug. "I am close to her, but not as much as you are with your fellow Chosen, my Lady. At best, I think, we would be considered close friends."

"Oh?" Lady Taana said, a curious gleam in her eyes.

Smiling at the Shadar-kai's friendly curiosity, Arche readily shared her history with the other woman.

"We were spawned at roughly the same time and in the same area. That made us what I suppose could be called childhood friends? Though we didn't actually grow up."

"I'm not so sure about that." Lady Taana said with a shake of her head. "You Momons might spawn as mentally equivalent to adults with a full set of job classes and all that but you can still grow can't you?"

"We can." Arche agreed. "When you put it that way, I suppose you are correct."

"So your byplay with Lakyus is playful competitiveness with your childhood friend?"

"Pretty much." Arche said with a shrug. She'd honestly not thought too deeply about the matter and the characterization mostly fit, so she saw no reason to dispute it.

"Is there a root for this competitiveness?"

Arche pondered this question for a moment before nodding. "It probably boils down to our differing approaches to combat. I'm more focused on scouting and attacking from range, hence why all my minions are either Specters for scouting or various ranged capable undead. Lakyus on the other hand-"

"Favours a blunt approach." Lady Taana said with a nod. "Hence all the armored vehicles she has under her command."

"Exactly. We Momons are spawned to be the commanders of the Bone Father's legions, thus our command style and favored tactics come to define as individuals."

"And you and Lakyus are pretty much opposites there."

"Yes, hence our rivalry."

Arche hadn't ever called it that before but it was appropriate.

_This talk has been more enlightening to me about my own self and my relationship with Lakyus then any other I've ever had._ Arche realized, prompting her to look at Lady Taana with awe.

"What's with that look?"

"Thank you, my Lady." Arche said, offering the Supreme One's Chosen a grateful bow. "Thank you for your guidance."

Lady Taana blinked in confusion for a moment before shrugging and seemingly just pushed the matter aside. Arche was relieved for that, she was loathe to explain herself further. The thought that a three hundred year old undead needed the help of a teenage Shadar-kai to make sense of her own feelings was mortifyingly embarrassing, even if said younger woman was one of her god's Chosen.

"Want to go grab some tea?" Lady Taana said with a welcoming grin. "Olothon gave me some that are pretty good."

"I'd love to, my Lady."

* * *

Bellakh was a city built into the mountains themselves with buildings carved into their very rocks like caves. With the sturdy mountains as a defense, it needed no walls as its inhabitants could simply flee into the peaks themselves should a threat arise. As they had done at the sight of Taana's approaching army, abandoning the terraces of farmland that surrounded their city in the process. With the city sealed tight against invaders, its would be liberators found themselves forced to besiege the fortress city.

"Arche, what do the scouts say?" Taana asked as they gathered to discuss the situation they found themselves facing inside the dining room of the luxurious manor house amidst the farming terraces that they'd seized for their command post. It was Dragon sized of course, which meant there was plenty of room.

"My Specters have mapped out the immediate area of the Underdark and we're sure that there are no passages leading into the city." Arche reported dutifully. "Though there does appear to be mining activity from inside so they might be trying to change that. I've posted sentries throughout the region though, so we'll know if they succeed."

Taana nodded and turned to Lakyus. "Do we know how long they can withstand our siege?"

"Months at minimum." The Momon responded with a frown. "A year if they start rationing immediately. The prisoners we took confirm what we already knew. Bellakh might not be the most fertile place in Skelkor but it has a relatively small population and with all this farmland surrounding us, managed to be a net exporter of food. That means they have a well stocked granary."

"We can't wait months to starve them out." Taana noted as she struggled to come up with a way out of the quagmire she'd found herself in.

"We could just blast them out." Lakyus suggested, not for the first time. "We have enough bunker busting equipment to take the whole city down."

"And kill all the slaves we were trying to liberate." Arche helpfully reminded her childhood friend on Taana's behalf. "Or did you forget that the last dozen times Lady Taana told you no?"

_I'm going to have to thank Arche for taking that one._ Taana thought with a wry grin. _I was getting tired of repeating myself._

"We might not have to." Taana said as Arche and Lakyus glared at each other, regaining the two Momons' attention. "Has Kroradrassh recovered? Anyway we can tempt him into another sortie where we can finish him off?"

Kroradrassh was the Ancient White Dragon that was the governor of Bellakh. He'd foolishly flown out with his Dragonic subordinates to attempt to destroy them in the field when their army had been advancing towards Bellakh and been almost torn to shreds by their Sigurds before he led his handful of survivors back to the safety of the fortress city.

"My Specters haven't been able to get a visual confirmation, he's upped security around his lair, but from what we've managed to overhear he's mostly healed."

"So if we goad him properly he'll come out to the slaughter?" Lakyus asked Arche hopefully.

"I don't think so." Arche said with a shake of her head. "He's quite the feral beast even for a White but even feral beasts like him are intelligent enough to know that flying out would be suicide for him after the mauling we gave him last time."

"Wiping out two thirds of his Dragonic underlings and almost mortally wounding him can do that." Taana noted wryly. "But that does put us in quite a predicament now. We can't storm the city?"

"With the way it's built? It'll be a bloodbath even if we win, which is not a given. Not in a fortress like this." Lakyus confirmed with a grim frown.

"Then our only hope to break this siege is luring Kroradrassh out so we can kill him and hope that doing so will entice the remaining Dragons to surrender."

"Yeah, but how are we going to lure him out? Because from where I'm sitting we have no ideas."

_Lakyus' right there._ Taana admitted. _I'm loathe to have to do this, but I think it's time we called in some help._

"Maybe not, but I know someone who might."

"Who do you have in mind, my Lady?" Arche asked curiously.

"Honestly? We'll see who's available."

* * *

"This is the city that has been giving you trouble?" Gauldoth said as he looked out at Bellakh from the balcony of Taana's appropriated command center. "I can see why."

The moment the necromancer had received Taana's **Message** requesting assistance, he'd handed command of his army over to Kelart temporarily and used **Gate** to travel to his little sister's location.

"Yes, it's basically one gigantic fortress." Taana told him with a sigh. "Any suggestions on how to crack it open?"

"You lack the casters to do an assault by **Gate**?"

"I don't have that many casters." Taana told him. "My troops are mainly mechanized infantry and armored units."

_I can fix that._ Gauldoth as she worked out the details of moving his army to join with hers. _It will take a day, maybe two, but it can be done._

"I'll reinforce you then."

"But don't you have your own city to take? You're on your way to Mratanga, right?"

"It can wait." Gaul said with a shrug. "A day or two delay won't matter. Especially if you repay the favor and add your army to mine for the assault on Mratanga."

"A day or two delay? Are you moving your whole army by **Gate**!?" Taana gasped as she did the math.

"Not entirely. But I have the casters for it so why waste time marching when I can just **Gate** within striking distance and go from there."

"That's just-" Taana said, overcome by surprise. "That's just scary."

"Why thank you," the armored necromancer said with a teasing, exaggerated bow.

Taana rolled her eyes and laughed.

She calmed quickly though. "You've got a deal. Bring your army and help me crack Bellakh and I'll help you smash Mratanga."

"Happy to do business with you, sister."

* * *

Lord Gauldoth's army had started pouring in into their camp by **Gate** the next morning and the two hosts rapidly began preparing for the plan that the two Chosen of the Supreme One had come up with to end the siege of Bellakh. As part of these efforts Arche found herself accompanying Kelart as her fellow Momon inspected the spells that hid Lord Gauldoth's little surprise for the fortress city's defenders

"So Arche, are you and Lady Taana sleeping together?" Kelart asked Arche suddenly as the two of them were finishing their task.

"W-What are you saying!?" Arche said in a mortified squeak, her face blushing a brilliant red.

"You aren't?" The older Momon said, sounding almost disappointed. "With all the talk among your men about how close you two were, I was sure-"

"It's not like that!" Arche insisted, shooting a glare at the priestess. "We _are_ close. Lady Taana is the best friend I've never had. But we _are not_ lovers, damnit! We're both solidly _heterosexual_!"

"Aren't you a virgin?" Kelart asked, tilting her head in confusion.

If Arche was a Human like she appeared the question might have been insulting or at least incredibly embarrassing but she was a Momon and with their libidos bordering on the non-existent it was a legitimate question. One never knew after all and it was considered polite to make sure when discussing each other's sex life so as to avoid saying something that might be untoward.

"No, I am not actually." Arche said calming herself at the normal question. "I've slept with Roberdyck once."

Just mentioning him brought to mind her fellow Momon. A priest with the handsome Human guise of a well groomed blonde haired, blue eyed gentleman. They weren't exactly lovers by Human standards, having only had sex the once, but they were in pretty regular contact via **Message** even now while Arche was on campaign and he was still on Felmid thus by the standards of their kind they were at least courting.

"Roberdyck? He's one of my fellow priests isn't he? I think I met him once." Kelart said with a thoughtful look on her face. "He's pretty well muscled. Good choice."

"Thank you." Arche said with a smile.

"Still, I think you'd have been better off with Lady Taana."

"Kelart!" Arche cried indignantly, even as the other Momon smirked like the cat which caught the canary.

* * *

Laykus stood fearlessly on the top of her command Hippo armored personnel carrier as she led her troops across the no man's land between Bellakh's outer defenses and the siegeworks that her men had built. Hundreds of Scorpion tanks and Hippos braved the fire of innumerable catapults, trebuchets, ballistae, spells and the occasional Dragon breath weapon under the covering suppressive fire of friendly Jericho missile artillery and Panzerhaubitze self-propelled howitzers.

It was a brutal bloodbath on both sides. Whilst the enemy enjoyed favorable fields of vision and fortified positions, every attempt to fire on their part was met almost immediately by a retaliatory artillery bombardment that easily shattered whatever defense they were hiding behind and more often than not killing whoever had opened fire be they slave or Dragon. At the same time, enough defenders were brave or perhaps desperate enough that their fire kept coming, knocking out one armored vehicles after another even as they advanced relentlessly.

_And to think that this is just a distraction._ Laykus thought as she swung her Evil Sword, Kilineiram, to unleash her **Dark Blade Mega Impact** skill and release a wave of negative energy that disintegrated a large boulder headed towards her Hippo.

She'd just finished with that when a chorus of terrible roars erupted from behind her position and she turned to see their origin for herself.

_And so begins the second phase._ Lakyus thought as dozens of massive Dragonic figures rose from the heart of their camp as the invisibility spells keeping them hidden fell away and they flew towards Bellakh.

"What travesty is this!?" A furious voice boomed from the top of the central mountain that made up Bellakh. "Zombies? Of my fellow Dragons? I will not allow this to stand."

At this bold declaration, a massive rock slab was tossed off the mountain top and a gargantuan white scaled figure flew out towards their camp.

Even as Lakyus joined another **Dark Blade Mega Impact** to the dozens of other attacks being used to distingerate the rock slab before it crushed any of her men, she could not help but smirk.

_Just as planned._

* * *

" **Mass Greater Cause Wounds."** Kelart cast from the balcony of their army's command centre and watched with satisfaction as some of the damage done to the Zombie of Isrendra and the other Zombie Dragons they'd brought with them from Arangyn by Kroradrassh was repaired. It was only a drop in the bucket, Kroradrassh was dealing great amounts of damage to his undead former comrades with his freezing breath weapon as well as his teeth and claws, but Kelart wasn't alone.

" **Ray of Negative Energy."**

" **Greater Cause Wounds."**

All around her were hundreds of Necromancers, Wizards and Priests of the Supreme One were pooling their magic together to keep their Zombie Dragons from falling to pieces as they sought Kroradrassh's death.

"He's surprisingly sturdy." Lord Gauldoth said, looking at the sight of dozens of Zombie Dragons ganging up on the Ancient White Dragon and yet still being unable to deal him a swift death.

Though to be fair, the task was made more difficult when seeing their lord in plight, many of Bellakh's remaining Dragons had flown up to assist him forcing them to redirect some of their Zombie Dragons to contend with them instead.

"Arche, any more of the Dragons still hiding inside?" Lady Taana asked her adjutant.

"A few but they are cowering so badly I doubt we'll be able to lure them out." The blonde Wizard said with a frown.

"Guess, we'll just have to deal with them later." The Shadar-kai said with a shrug. "Hey, Gaul, want to see something cool that Lord Ainz gifted me?"

"What is it?" Lord Gauldoth asked tersely, turning away from the fighting to glance at his fellow Chosen.

"This," The teenager said unslinging a longbow made of bone and sparked with electricity off her back.

_That was a gift from the Bone Father?_ Kelart thought as she looked at it curiously.

"I call it the Zwing and it packs a _big_ punch."

"How so?"

"Watch. **Call Lightning Storm**!"

Instead of calling down fifteen bolts of lightning to strike her foe like was the standard manifestation of the spell, at Lady Taana's invocation the bolts did shoot down from the sky but instead of hitting the enemy they struck her or more precisely her bow where they were channeled into a single writhing arrow of pulsing lightning.

One that she loosed and proceeded to fly through the air like a bolt from the Supreme One himself that struck Kroradrassh in the back of his mouth whilst he was attempting to unleash his breath weapon. He, of course, never got the chance as the lightning arrow exploded upon contact with his flesh and let free the fury of a storm right inside his vulnerable mouth. Worse yet for him, he was unfortunate enough to have one of the discharged bolts blast right through his head and exit from the top of his skull thus frying his brain in the process.

It was such an impressive sight that Kelart couldn't help but gape at it for a moment. Lady Taana, weakest of the Chosen, had just killed an Ancient White Dragon with one spell!

_Truly the Bone Father was wise to add her to his Chosen._ Kelart thought even as she muttered an earnest prayer of praise to her god.

" **Create Low Tier Undead."** Lord Gauldoth cast as Kelart finished her prayer and the corpse of Kroradrassh that had just crashed to the ground rose once more now joining the other Zombie Dragons in service to the faithful of the Supreme One.

"Shouldn't you have waited till we finished the others and then raise them all at once?" Lady Taana asked as she finished putting away her divine bow.

"This will have more of an effect on their morale." Lord Gauldoth countered. "And that's what we need to break here."

"True." Lady Taana conceded, before turning to Arche. "Are our Specters in position?"

"Yes, my Lady." The girl said dutifully. "Shall I give the order."

"Yes." Lord Gauldoth and Lady Taana said at the same time, causing them to both laugh.

Arche smiled even as she began relaying their order while Kelart used her newly cooled down **Mass Greater Cause Wounds** to repair their Zombie Dragons.

Around them, in the camp that surrounded the command center, dozens of **Gate** portals opened and their troops both undead and living alike poured through and into strategic locations throughout Bellakh.

With their leader dead and risen as a Zombie to fight against them, with enemies within their city and thousands more blasting their way inside through fortified door by fortified door, Kelart was not surprised that the fortress city's remaining leadership surrendered shortly after.

They would have been fools not to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hoped you guys liked the chapter.
> 
> So my version of Bellakh looks like a Dwarven hold. The implications for such should be obvious. We are talking about Skelkor, the evil empire of Dragon slavers here after all.
> 
> Well making that observation clear to those who might have missed them is all I wanted to say today. So till next time vīḍkōlu!


	28. Skelkor War 6: Smashing Mratanga

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 6: Smashing Mratanga**

**Beta:**

* * *

"So this is Mratanga?" Taana asked as she, Gaul and their command staff watched the projection of a holographic display that was playing a live video feed from one of their scouts. "Somehow it's not what I expected."

Surrounded by the dense Tugley Woods was a city that could only be considered as a scar on the surrounding lands. Behind a set of three concentric walls of first wood, then earth and finally stone were district upon district of lumber mills, smelters and other industry. All of which pumped pollution into its surroundings without care. It was clear that Mratanga had been founded solely to exploit the resources of the region to the point of exhaustion.

"What were you expecting? A wood elf city with its buildings seamlessly melding into its surroundings?" Gaul said with a scoff.

"No." Taana lied. "But whatever I was expecting it was certainly not this."

"Neither did I," Arche said loyally, earning her a grin. "Though for a different reason than Lady Taana's."

Taana's smile transformed into a pout at that.

"I agree." Kelart, Gaul's adjutant, said with a frown as she toggled the various feeds they were receiving from the scouts surveilling the city. "Where are the Dragons?"

Taana blinked and looked at the feeds more closely.

_They're right. Where_ are _the Dragons? Besides that bony plated Grey Dragon that's the city's governor there doesn't seem to be many Dragons in the city at all._

"For a city this size there should be at least two to three dozen Dragons-"

"Nineteen," Arche cut Lakyus off. "That's the number of Dragons that the intelligence we gained from our prisoners said should be here. Thirty nine if we count the Dragons that laired in the surrounding region."

"Thank you Arche." Lakyus said with an irritated nod to her childhood friend. "As I was saying, the city should have at least _nineteen_ Dragons present, but we've counted only _five_ so far."

"Are they planning an ambush?" Gaul asked ponderingly.

"If they are then we've seen no sign of it, my Lord." Arche told him. "Our scouts will keep looking but I doubt that's the case."

"Then what are you suggesting?" Kelart asked, her eyes narrowed. "That the Empress Dragon has abandoned the city and ordered its Dragons elsewhere."

"It would make sense." Lakyus said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Mratanga is cut off and faced with a foe that has already proven it has the strength to take a city of its size and capabilities. If I were in her place, I'd write it off too."

"And the only ones who could escape were the Dragons." Arche continued. "They could fly over the mountains but the slave soldiers would've had to march through the pass and our base camp to reach any other part of Skelkor."

_Or risk the treacherous lesser mountain passes, which anything but a small force wouldn't survive._

"So they were left behind to die with those Dragons too stubborn to leave?" Gaul asked as he gestured to the display and the projected image of an Adult Green Dragon nesting in a grove of trees within the city's outermost ring of walls.

_Now that he mentions it. Almost all the Dragons who remain are Adults. They are probably the ones who have too much attachment to their lairs here to leave._

"It would appear so, my Lord." Arche said with a nod.

Gaul chuckled at that and Taana smirked as what she imagined was the same thought crossed both their minds.

"Then we have quite the windfall on our hands." He said, voicing their thoughts. "Let's collect on it, shall we?"

* * *

Kemmicriam was an Ancient Gray Dragon. A feat only possible at his objectively young age of a hundred years by the virtue of being caught up in a temporal anomaly during the Spellplague that allowed him to live through centuries of subjective experience in days and at the end of which had deposited him here in Skelkor far from his old lair in what the humanoids called the Starwood. Whereupon he'd swiftly been confronted by the local Dragons and their leader the mysterious Dragon Empress, Gauwervyndhal. He honestly didn't know what to make of the enigmatic older Dragon, if that was what she was at all, but he did know that she was stronger than him. Far stronger. He'd thus grovelled to the best of his abilities and much to his relief was spared and even offered a post as governor of one of her cities.

It had required him killing his predecessor, who supposedly was incompetent, in mortal combat but that was not too difficult. The Green was a fellow Ancient and more skilled in magic but she was a complacent fool that underestimated Kemmicriam far too much and paid the price for it.

He'd thus gained much by his displacement to Skelkor. None of which he was willing to give up. Thus when Gauwervyndhal had declared Mratanga, his city, indefensible from the armies of these mysterious invaders and ordered it to be evacuated, he had requested permission to stay and at least attempt a defense. If half the reports that he'd received were accurate, he knew it was futile but he had to try. His pride allowed no less. Contrary to his expectations the Empress had agreed, citing that a suicidal delaying force would be beneficial.

It rankled to just be written off like that but he knew she wasn't wrong. Staying _was_ suicide. And yet he did so nonetheless.

And as the first sounds of explosions ripped Mratanga's walls apart, Kemmicriam knew that death had come for him.

"Master!" The Dragonborn slave that was the captain of his guard said as he rushed into his pavilion, though not the one in his palace. _That_ , he was sure, had already been reduced to rubble by the enemy's fearsome weapons. "The enemy are attacking."

He was stating the obvious. Everyone in the city could see the rain of the enemy's artillery as it fell upon their meager defenses. He did not fault the slave though, he was only doing his duty.

"Follow the plan." Kemmicriam told the slave. "Fall back to our strong points and await the enemy within the city itself."

If the enemy wanted to take the city, they would have to do so by prying it from his cold dead claws.

* * *

"They're not sortieing at all?" Lady Taana asked as they and their detachment sat in the woods behind Mratanga. The idea had been to attack the city from the rear while the main body of its defenders contended with their own main force attacking down the main road. As the defenders refused to give battle however and their forces just steamrolled into the city itself, the initial plan had gone out the window.

"I suppose they've learned the lessons from our previous victories." Arche told her with a shrug. "They would have to at some point."

"True." The Supreme One's Chosen said with a sigh. "Makes our job more difficult though."

"Taking a city by force is never easy."

"You're right there." Lady Taana said, straightening and getting serious. "How _are_ they responding?"

"According to my Specters, they appear to be falling back to fortified locations."

"So it'll be tough for us to dig them out?" Lady Taana asked. "Let me guess they also packed them with living shields so we can't just blow them up with our artillery."

Arche just nodded.

"They want to make any attempt at storming the city costly don't they?

"With the forces they have at their disposal the only option they have is to bleed us as much as possible so we'll be weakened when we meet their next army."

"By needlessly spending the lives of thousands." Lady Taana said, her eyes glowing with arcing _red_ lightning. "Despicable."

"It is war, my Lady."

Instead of replying, Lady Taana began issuing orders.

"Alright, the enemy has been sufficiently distracted. Begin our part of the operation."

"At once, my Lady." Arche said before quickly turning to signal to their men.

Within seconds the order had spread down the chain of command and by the time a minute had passed, hundreds of mounted troops surged out of the Tugley Woods and towards Mratanga.

" **Chain Dragon Lightning!"** Arche cast sending a curling lung dragon shaped bolt of lightning shooting through a dozen of the few defenders on the walls that she and her men were charging towards. Her spell only one of hundreds that decimated the already undermanned walls, blowing holes in it to allow them passage and killing its defenders.

Though these efforts were drops in the bucket to Lady Taana's. The Shadar-kai had drawn Zwing and from the back of her Soul Eater mount was loosing lightning arrows so fast that she could have been mistaken for a machine gun. These arrows conjured by the divine bow from thin air might not have been as powerful as one infused by one of its Mistress' spells but they were lethal all the same, and none that took a hit got up again.

With such deadly fire support, it was no surprise that their cavalry charge easily broke into the city itself and began adding even more chaos to the mayhem already engulfing it.

"Arche! Any clue where Kemmicriam is hiding?" Lady Taana shouted over the din of battle all around them, even as she absently sent an arrow through the eye of what appeared to be an Earth Genasi that had tried to rush their position.

"Sorry, but no. He's hidden himself well." Arche told her as she used **Flame Strike** to set the officer of a squad of nearby enemy pikemen alight, causing his men to lose heart and flee.

"Darn." Lady Taana said with a sigh whilst sending a whole unit of enemy skirmishers to the grave with a rain of arrows. "We'll just have to hunt him down then. Arche! Lead the way to the nearest enemy strong point!"

"Yes, my Lady." The Momon replied enthusiastically, as she mentally ordered her Soul Eater mount to trample over a group of fleeing, broken enemies as she galloped towards the nearest possible location where the city's governor might be hiding.

* * *

" **Flying Swords!"** Lakyus incanted, activating the special ability of the six swords that usually hovered behind her shoulders and causing them to shoot past her. They flew into the ranks of the cavalry that were trying to charge the armored column she was driving through Mratanga's streets, adding to the railgun fire and other anti-infantry weapons that were turning the foolish riders into piles of dead meat.

Behind her, the main guns of a squad of her Scropions boomed and Lakyus turned to see their mass driver rounds smash into the magical barrier of an Adult Red Dragon that was advancing towards them. They shattered the barrier, some enhanced variant of **Mage Armor** if she wasn't wrong, but it had served its purpose and none of them made contact with the huge flying lizard's flesh.

That seemed to give it a false sense of superiority for some reason as it wasted time chuckling instead of reapplying its spell. As such, it was promptly faced with the sustained fire from the entire armored column, a fate that soon replaced its laughter with agonized screams as it was shot to pieces.

"Arrogant idiot," Lakyus said with a dismissive snort. "Then again that seems par for the course for Dragons around these parts."

_Felmidian Dragons might be pricks sometimes but at least they're mostly smart and powerful enough to back that attitude up. These guys? They're just complacent imbeciles._

"Have the Scorpions lob a few more rounds from their guns into it to be sure it's dead." Lakyus told the Elder Lich that served as her adjutant, gesturing to the fresh carcass of the Red Dragon.

"Yes, milady." The lesser undead said with a salute before hastily conveying her orders via radio to the tank crews.

Moments later, the corpse of the recently slain Red Dragon was subjected to a barrage of mass driver rounds that ripped large holes through its already thoroughly abused flesh. It did not respond in anyway however so Lakyus was fairly sure it was dead.

"Alright, radio Kelart and her necromancers that she's got a fresh corpse to raise." Lakyus ordered. "In the meantime we're moving on!"

* * *

Riding atop the back of the Zombie Dragon formerly known as Isendra the Ancient Black but which had recently been renamed ZD-1, Kelart looked down on the war ravaged city of Mratanga with satisfaction. The enemy was making a fight of it from various strong points scattered throughout the city but with the overwhelming firepower at their disposal their forces were making steady progress clearing them out.

"Have Second Squadron help out our forces in Sector E-3." Kelart told the Elder Lich manning the radio somewhere behind her. "Looks like they've smoked out a Dragon and are having some trouble."

"Yes milady." The lesser creature said in its croaky voice and Kelart watched as the dozen Zombie Wyrmlings and three Zombie Adult Dragons of Second Squadron dove down from the holding position they were maintaining over the city to assist their ground forces.

"Milady, word from Lady Lakyus." The Elder Lich said, pulling her away from the look of horror on the enemy Adult Green Dragon's face as it found itself confronted by Zombie versions of its brethren. Perhaps the sight gave it an inkling as to its fate. Whatever the case, the terror in the eyes of such a prideful creature was a sight that Kelart would savor for a long time.

"What did she say?"

"There is a new Dragon corpse to raise in Sector W-5."

"Dispatch the Third Squadron." Kelart said dismissively. "They're understrength anyway. A new addition to their ranks will help fix that."

"Yes milady." The Elder Lich said sycophantically as it relayed her orders.

Kelart ignored it in lieu of enjoying the view of a city being con- ahem. A city being liberated. Yes. That's right. They were liberators, not conquerors.

_By the Bone Father, I better not forget that. Wouldn't want to hurt the morale of our living comrades now would we?_

* * *

Codel Cudir was a Human slave, though that wasn't saying much. Everyone in Skelkor who wasn't a Dragon was a slave. That was not to say Codel's life was bad however. Buxom, with lustrous red hair and entrancing green eyes, she was beautiful. For a Human. And that had earned her a higher standard of living than most as her Dragon Masters bought and sold her to satisfy the lusts of the Human males among their property. It meant she had to spread her legs for whichever man, mostly Human but not always, that her Masters commanded her to but it also meant she didn't live in squalor or constantly worried about working hard enough to ensure she got her next meal. Instead, she was allowed luxuries such as regular washing, pretty clothes, and good meals.

Now though all that was on the verge of coming to an end as the invaders, their self-proclaimed liberators, marched into Mratanga and destroyed the only way of life that Codel had ever known.

She would have fled, as some of the more favored slaves had, with her current Master, the Adult Red Dragon Restrasz, when he and most of the other Dragons had been told to evacuate the city. But she'd been abandoned because of the babe growing inside her. Pregnant and showing it was decided that she could not make the trip through the mountains. And she'd only kept the pregnancy and not drank some moontea because the men she'd been assigned to had wanted to have their way with a pregnant woman!

She'd have killed the babe herself if the act of doing so as far along in her pregnancy as she was wouldn't have weakened her body such that making the sacrifice would make her just as unfit for the mountain trek.

The only consolation was that she wasn't the only one. All the pregnant pleasure slaves from Master Restrasz's estate were with her. A whole two thirds of the stable, it having been in the middle of breeding season, the time of the year where the Master ordered his female property to reproduce and add to his estate, when he'd fled.

Thus it was that Codel huddled in a mass of Humans, Halflings, Genasi and the odd more exotic female. All of them pregnant. The damned lucky Dragonborn having already laid their eggs had long since fled. All of them cowering in their master's nesting chamber, the place in his estate where he retreated should he feel the need for sleep. All whilst explosions tore through the streets outside, the sound of fighting echoed everywhere and soldiers prowled the streets.

"There are living inside. I can sense it." A croaky voice said from just outside the elaborate metal doors that were a combination of magic and artifice which separated the chamber from the rest of the estate. A device that one of the Dwarf girls had figured out how to operate.

A number of the girls cried out in alarm at the voice but were quickly shushed by the more sensible ones like Codel. The door was supposed to let sound in and not out but there was no reason to risk it!

"It is magically reinforced and beyond-" The voice continued before suddenly cutting off and changing tack entirely. "Breaching charges? I understand. Getting clear."

There was silence for a long tense moment as Codel and she was sure more than one of the other pleasure slaves tried to figure out what was going on.

The answer came a moment later as an explosion blasted a hole in the Master's fancy door and sent rumble flying everywhere. Girls screamed as they ducked under the dubious cover of the raised platform the Master liked to recline on when he used the room. It also filled the room with a cloud of dust and blinded Codel, but as it settled and her vision returned she almost wished she had truly lost her sight.

"Sir, we have civilians here!" A humanoid in strange full body armor, it wasn't plate, was the first thing she saw as it stepped through the hole in the door. It was soon followed by at least four, maybe five others.

Codel had lost count because stepping in after these soldiers was something that had her lose control of her bladder. Dressed in an old and luxurious robe was an animated body of rotting skin and bones. She didn't know much about undead but she was sure that was a Lich!

"Pleasure slaves it looks like." The Lich said in its croaky voice. "Look at them, they are barely dressed."

In most situations, Codel would have been offended by the critique. Yes, her robes exposed much of her flesh to leering eyes and she was not allowed to cover her breasts or her nethers, but it was comfortable! More comfortable than the scratchy linen clothes that the common slave women were given. Her clothes were even made from silk! In this situation however, Codel was too terrified to do anything more than shiver in terror.

She was so scared that if she hadn't already emptied her bladder, she'd have done so now. Especially, as more and more of the armored soldiers entered the room.

"They're all pregnant as well." The Elder Lich told the soldiers. "I'd wager they were abandoned as being too difficult to transport when the estate's owner fled the city just like the batch the other unit found locked in their pens in S-2."

"Bastards!" One of the soldiers cursed. She, her voice sounded female even if the armor hid any other signs, wasn't alone. All the soldiers showed some sign of displeasure.

"Alright everyone," the apparent leader of the soldiers said as he stepped forward. "My name is Captain Re Munetsk and me and my men are here to rescue you."

Codel didn't believe him. He was working with a Lich! Surely this Re Munetsk was nothing more than its pawn. She wouldn't believe it. She wouldn't.

And she didn't. Not as he and his men carefully guided her and the other pregnant pleasure slaves out of the Master's ruined estate and through the warzone to a safe place. Nor when they handed her new clothes which she wore only grudgingly. Not even when they fed her food that tasted better than anything she'd ever had.

She would never trust these conquerors who had destroyed her world of relative luxury and reduced her to a mere commoner.

* * *

"My Lord, we've found Kemmicriam." Gaul's comms operator informed him as was taking a break from commanding the taking of Mratanga to enjoy some of the tea Taana had shared with him from the stash she'd received from the Stonetalker of Wandering Stones.

"Have we now? Where is he?"

"Sector N-2. He was hiding in one of the city's granaries." The Elder Lich said in the slow, deliberate way they all talked.

"Who do we have engaging him?"

"A company of Lady Lakyus' armor in addition to several Death Knights and their Zombie Squires. Lady Kelart has already sent ZD-2 to engage."

_Good. The Zombie of Kroradrassh will be able to hold him in place if nothing else._

"Scramble all nearby units. I want that thing dead ASAP."

"Yes, milord." The Elder Lich replied before it began barking into the microphone of the comms unit it manned, rallying all friendly units near to Kemmicriam's location to the engagement.

Gaul for his part simply walked to the command tent's central tactical display while taking a sip from his tea.

_This_ is _excellent. I hope Taana still has more of this blend, I'm sure the others will like to try some as well._ He thought as he toggled the device's display and zoomed in on the situation in the part of Mratanga they'd dubbed Sector N-2.

It seemed that in addition to the initial units that had discovered the Gray Dragon and ZD-2, there were now at least another half dozen units of various types involved in the fight. All of which were unloading massive amounts of firepower at Kemmicriam.

He was however giving up as good as he got, lashing out with the bony spurs at his joints, its claws, the scythe-like tips of its forked tails, and its acid breath weapon.

_It is just delaying the inevitable._ Gaul thought with a sneer.

"How boring." The armored necromancer said as he continued to watch Kemmicriam's desperate struggle with dispassion. "I'd much rather be having tea with Taana than see this one-sided slaughter."

Not that it was truly as one-sided as all that. The fact was that Kemmicriam was putting up quite the fight. So ferocious was his defiance that Kelart had felt the need to bring her mount ZD-1 into the fight as well. And even Taana was only minutes away from joining the fight.

Despite all that though, Gaul had no doubts. The Gray Dragon's efforts were futile.

"Time to end its suffering." Gaul said as he put down his empty teacup where a Skeleton Mage immediately picked it up and moved to have it refilled.

Barely paying his minion's actions any mind, Gaul raised his right hand in a claw gesture and cast. " **Grasp Heart!"**

On the tactical display, Kemmicriam staggered and in Gualdoth's clawed right hand materialized a translucent copy of the Ancient Dragon's heart. One he proceeded to attempt to crush. Attempted because at the last minute, his spell was thwarted by his target's resistances.

"No matter," Gaul dismissed his failure with a shrug as he accepted the refilled teacup that the Skeleton Mage offered him.

And it really didn't. For on the holographic display, Gaul could see the handiwork of his spell. Even though it had failed, it had caused the Gray Dragon to stagger for a moment and in that moment it was blasted by the breath weapons of both ZD-1 and ZD-2, in addition to a spell arrow from the freshly arrived Taana. If not for Gaul's spell, the nimble Kemmicriam might have evaded them all, but because of it, he ended up being hit dead on.

Unable to survive such punishment, his body literally crumbled under the frost, acid and lightning that it was subjected to thus leaving nothing but a badly damaged corpse.

"I guess ZD-3 is going to be subpar." Gaul critiqued the corpse through the display. "Well, we'll just make do I suppose."

Taking a sip of his tea, he let out a sigh of pleasure.

"This is truly good tea."

* * *

"We only lost 18,000 of the city's slaves?" Taana asked, looking up from Arche's report in surprise. "I'd have thought a lot more than that considering how many got caught up in the street fighting."

"Most of those were slave soldiers and other collaborators." Arche informed her from across the conference table in Mratanga's central administrative building which they'd commandeered as their headquarters. "They were trying to fight back or restore order, we labelled them as enemy combatants and counted them separately."

Taana nodded in understanding. "So out of a city of about 200,000 slaves we lost only 9%? That's good, right?"

_And that's even after extensive magical healing and resurrections. I'm honestly not sure if it's good or bad._ Taana thought to herself, even as Arche provided her own assessment of the figure.

"It's a higher rate of loss than in our liberation of other cities but their defenders didn't use the local populace as living shields quite as extensively as Kemmicri- I mean, ZD-3 did."

"Gaul, what do you think?"

"I think it's fine." The armored Necromancer said with an unconcerned shrug. "It's within the acceptable range of losses Drau set for us, isn't it?"

"True." Taana allowed. "Still we should avoid such high numbers in the future. You know Drau won't like it if our ratio is consistently high."

"Fine. Fine." Gaul said sounding annoyed. "We'll be more careful in future battles. Happy?"

"Peachy." The Shadar-kai replied with a response that she'd learned form Neia.

The irritated growl that Gaul made in response was music to her ears.

"Lord Gauldoth, Lady Taana, may I ask where do we go from here?" Kelart asked for all three of the Momons of their senior staff it seemed as they all looked at them expectantly.

"Drau hasn't said yet so for now I guess we stay here and resupply."

"But get ready to move at any time." Gaul warned them. "It's only a matter of time before Drau orders us to rendezvous with the rest of our forces and attack Marangor."

"Shouldn't be too long from now." Taana agreed. "So don't too comfortable."

"We won't, my Lady." Lakyus assured her. "But since we're stuck here for the moment, should we try and raise some units from among the newly liberated locals? They wouldn't be up to our usual standards but they'll add to our numbers if nothing else."

"We don't need more cannon fodder." Kelart said with a dismissive sniff.

"Exactly, we have Skeletons for that."

"I agree with Gaul, Lakyus. But if you want your men to do something useful while we await further orders then I give you the authority to have them help train the local militia."

"Local militia?" Gaul said with a dismissive snort. "Those fools aren't good enough to even be considered that."

"Maybe not by our standards, Gaul." Taana told him with a roll of her eyes. "But they're good enough. Besides, letting the locals bear arms is more a tool to raise their morale and trust in us than actually expecting them to add to our military capability. Or did you forget what Drau said about the matter?"

"Morale? Trust?" Gaul scoffed. "This is why working with undead is so much easier. You don't have to deal with that kind of thing with most of them."

Taana just shrugged. "Well, the locals are _not_ undead. So we just have to deal with what we've got."

Gaul just grunted in irritation and Taana just chuckled. He never changed.

"Alright, that's it for now I think." She told the three Momons. "So dismissed."

The three women offered them a salute and left the room.

"So how long do you think this war will last?" Taana asked, a short while after the three Momons had left.

"Not very long. Why?"

"I just miss adventuring you know?" Taana said wistfully. "I know what we're doing is important and leading armies is fun in its own way but I miss just the six of us blasting our way through a slaver settlement."

"We'll get back to that once we're done with Skelkor." Gaul reminded her. "Drau promised."

Taana nodded.

"I hope that's soon."

Gaul's whispered reply was too soft for her to really make out, but she thought it might have been something along the lines of "Me too" and that brought a bright smile to Taana's face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> As always I hoped everyone enjoyed the chapter.
> 
> Some of you might be wondering why I included that Codel scene. Well, it's to get across a few ideas. Firstly, it is to give a better idea of what slavery under Skelkor can be. Secondly, I wanted to show the consequences of the protagonists' close cooperation with undead particularly the distrust this engenders in others. Lastly, to show that not everyone is happy when they're liberated even if their lives are made objectively better.
> 
> So I have no idea if the casualties figures for the civilians are appropriate. I tried to do some research on some realistic estimates for losses when a city was sacked in the medieval period, but couldn't get anything. As such, I just winged it and gave a number. If it's too low then chalk it up to the Felmidian trained troops having excellent discipline and overwhelming strength. If it's too high than it's because of Kemmicriam's excessive use of living shields.
> 
> That's all to discuss this chapter. So till next time, bayartai!


	29. Skelkor War 7: Necrofex Threat

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 7: Necrofex Threat**

**Beta:**

* * *

After playing their part in the victory at Dearr, Neia and her lieutenant, the Momon Renner, were now leading an army that had split off from the main force to liberate the Eastern city of Narvaar. It was a long journey to the distant city and after a week of travel from Dearr, she was only about halfway to the city, passing through a plethora of small villages and large sprawling farming estates. Apparently, all the local Dragons had abandoned the countryside however and left the remaining slaves there leaderless. Many had thus welcomed them as liberators and what little resistance they faced were disorganized at best.

They were mid-march and Neia was writing the sermon for her next service inside the relative comfort of her command Hippo when Renner stiffened as she was reviewing the reports from their scouts.

Neia looked over at her and the Momon used a hand signal to indicate she was receiving a **Message** even as she accepted the telepathic communication.

_Wonder what's it about?_ Neia thought idly as she looked at the other woman curiously. _Nothing we've encountered so far has been important enough to warrant using a_ _ **Message**_ _._

As the Momon continued speaking telepathically with whoever was on the other end, Neia couldn't help but feel exasperation at her adjutant's attire creep up on her for the umpteenth time. Here they were on campaign and all the other woman ever wore were elaborate ball gowns complete with corseted bodices and voluminous skirts. She knew Renner was undead and thus could tolerate things better than the Human she appeared to be most of the time, but surely wearing something like that and engaging in half the things they needed to do while on the march must be incredibly uncomfortable. Momons' human forms were anatomically functional after all. But whenever Neia brought the matter up, Renner just smiled coyly and deflected her concerns.

"So what is it?" Neia asked the moment Renner seemed done.

"One of our scouting parties just ran into a column of refugees." Renner told her with a frown. "And based on some of the details they were able to identify from passive observation, they're from Narvaar."

Neia blinked in surprise. "You're sure?"

"Reasonably." Renner nodded. "I told the scouts to approach cautiously and get confirmation but even without it I'm sure."

"What in the Nine Hells happened in Narvaar then? Did the Dragons turn the people out?"

Renner shrugged. "We'll just have to wait to hear what the refugees have to say."

Neia nodded even as an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. Somehow she was sure that she wouldn't like what the refugees told them.

* * *

A day later and their column had stopped as they began to process and help the river of refugees flowing towards them from Narvaar and its surrounds. Neia had been at the forefront of these efforts to tend to these poor people and it was after hours of such work that she entered the command tent and with a brief survey of its occupants quickly zeroed in on Renner.

"What have you learned?" Neia demanded from the Momon, her anger running hot after she'd seen the dire conditions many of the poor refugees were in.

The blonde in the impractical dress looked up from her tablet computer and nodded in greeting before quickly diving into a report.

"Based on the compiled accounts we've collected from the refugees, Narvaar has been razed to the ground by a horde of Anaxim like automatons that suddenly swarmed across the mountains from Fallen Tymanchebar last week."

"I heard as much while tending to them. But Anaxim? The refugees just described their attackers as metallic monsters to me."

Renner fiddled with her computer for a moment before turning it around to show her a pair of golem-like metallic monsters, one with a vaguely bestial shape and the other a humanoid one, that was a conglomerate of metallic parts jutting with too many cutting implements and rusted surfaces.

"These is an Anaxim." Renner said pointing to the image on her computer's screen. "They are elementals native to the Glaur Barrens of Gontal."

"Native to Gontal?" Neia asked with her eyes narrowed. "We're on the far side of the continent from Gontal!"

"Which is one of the reasons we're mostly sure they're not Anaxims."

"One of the reasons?"

Renner nods and toggled her computer's display. "This is a recreation of the description of one of these psuedo-Anaxims that a refugee provided us. What do you notice?"

"Is that a corpse embedded inside?" Neia asked with shock as she noticed the desiccated remains of what looked like a Dragonborn inside a crystal sarcophagus of some kind at the heart of the vaguely hound like monster of twisted metal, stone and other random debris.

"Yes, my Lady." Renner nodded. "Between that and its non-metallic components we can conclude with near certainty that this _isn't_ a Anaxim. What it _is_ though we don't know."

"We do," Neia countered. "They're hurting the people we seek to liberate. That makes them our enemy. Full stop."

"As you say, my Lady." Renner said with a nod. "Though if they are our enemy, perhaps I can interest you in _why_ they attacked Narvarr?"

Neia waved her hand for her to continue.

"As you can see," Renner gestured back to the recreation of one of these unknown monstrosities. "These _things_ require dead bodies. We are thus reasonably sure they raided Narvaar-"

"To use its inhabitants as raw materials to grow their numbers."

"Yes, my Lady. But there's more." Renner said as she rotated the image of the recreation of the metallic monster and zoomed in on the symbol of a blank scroll emblazoned onto the thing's left flank.

"Is that what I think it is?" Neia asked, as her blood began to boil with rage.

"It is the symbol of the god Oghma." Renner said, confirming Neia's suspicion. "We do not know how but it seems he is connected to these monsters."

"I don't care about the how." Neia said with a growl. "We are the instruments of a divine will. Of a greater god than Oghma will ever be. We will not be stopped by these monstrosities. Ready the troops to move out, we're hunting these things down."

"And the refugees?"

" **Message** Felmid and request sanctuary there for them. It should be forthcoming. Once they're sent through, we march."

"And what will you be doing in the meantime, Lady Neia?" Renner asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"I will be doing my duty as a Paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown and tend to the innocents. I leave the rest to you."

Renner offered her a curtsy that Neia absently acknowledged with a nod before heading out towards the hospital tents.

_I'll make whoever hurt these innocent people pay. No matter what god I offend in the process._

* * *

The Skeleton Bert Saxer floated inside the magical sarcophagus of his personal Necrofex and watched through a feed sent to him from one of his scout Hounds as it showed a column of armored vehicles moving across the countryside towards his position inside the ruins of the city of Narvaar.

"So they come at last." The abnormal Skeleton said to himself. "I have two days at best before they reach here. That's plenty of time! Plenty of time to arrange a fitting welcome for these poor, deluded dummkopfs!"

He burst into insane laughter at that, his mind coming up with all the ways he would torment these fools who followed the monster known as Ainz Ooal Gown.

_A monster that had taken everything from me!_ A wondering fragment of Bert's mind thought even as the majority of its focus went into planning a reception for the dark god's followers. And as it did, the painfully vivid memory of how he had lost everything surfaced unbidden.

It had been a normal day for Saxer at first. He had just finished breakfast with his wife and two children in their tiny but comfortable apartment in the Berlin arcology and he was just preparing to leave for his job as one of the city's maintenance engineers when suddenly a flash of light consumed them all. There had been no time to react. No time at all. One second they were all normal and the next, he and his wife were Skeletons and their children were fused together into some undead abomination he had no name for. The horror must have shattered his mind for in the eternity that followed, he remembered nothing.

He only regained his sense of self when he found himself in a starfighter drifting in the void after the evil god's battle with the undead primordial Atropus. One of countless lost craft, Bert had been lucky. He had caught the attention of the Lord of Knowledge, Oghma. Said god had restored his freedom and with it the memories of his past life.

Bert had been beyond grateful. For while he had lost everything, the memory alone of what he'd had and his restored freedom were priceless. He thus profusely thanked the god and asked him what he wanted to repay this unasked for boon.

The god had simply told him to act on his own will and then transported him to the shattered remains of what he would learn was called Tymanchebar where using his mechanical knowledge and new knowledge granted to him by Lord Oghma to begin building an army. For he would need an army to do what he wanted. To exact his revenge on Ainz Ooal Gown for taking everything away from him.

"And soon, soon, I will have a chance to strike the first blow." Bert said with confidence before bursting once more into maniacal laughter.

* * *

They were still a day out from Narvaar where their scouts had confirmed that the pseudo-Anaxims were still busy looting the city's remains and building more of themselves when the command Hippo suddenly started rocking even as the sound of powerful explosions pierced through the armored personnel carrier's well protected chassis.

"What was that?" Neia demanded as she hurriedly abandoned the checking of her arrows and stowing them back into her quiver, turned to the tactical display where Renner was already trying to make sense of the incoming information.

"We're under attack." The Momon informed her with cool professionalism. "It's the pseudo-Anaxims. They were hiding under invisibility and obfuscation spells. Those explosions were artillery strikes, they were aimed at our own artillery. We've lost roughly 15% of them."

"And the rest?"

"Protected by barriers thrown up by our mages, the enemy shells don't seem to be able to get through those. The surviving artillery crews are deploying their weapons to provide counter battery fire as we speak."

"And these?" Neia asked, indicating to a swarm of red markers surging towards the edge of their lines even as their men rushed to form up in a defensive formations.

"The enemy's main force, I'd reckon."

Neia nodded and examined the situation quickly.

_There's not much I can order the men to do on a tactical level that they aren't already doing._ Neia reasoned. She was no tactical genius. Far from it. There was no smart moves she could order by looking at this display. _So I can't help them from here._

"I'm going out." Neia declared as she moved towards the rear hatch of the Hippo. "Renner, you have tactical command."

"Yes, my Lady. Don't die out there."

Neia turned and shot her adjutant an amused grin. "I won't."

* * *

Outside was sheer chaos. The pseudo-Anaxims were wreaking havoc with their array of eerily familiar weapons. For like their own forces, they sported lasers and railguns instead of the more standard weapons of Toril. That alone was disconcerting enough but add to their element of surprise and they clearly had the upper hand as Neia's troops stood on the verge of total panic.

"Soldiers of Ainz Ooal Gown!" Neia shouted, triggering her Evangelist skills to allow her to be heard by all her men and for her words to burn themselves into their hearts. "Do not panic! Remember your training! Fight!"

Inspired by her power, the fear that had led to their confusion left her men and they begun to properly respond to the ambush. Helped along immensely, Neia was sure, by the steady stream of commands Renner was issuing from inside the command Hippo.

Her call to her soldiers had given away her position however and a flock of birds like pseudo-Anaxims braved the AA fire thrown up by the Sigurds to attempt an attack run at Neia.

The majority were torn to shreds well before they could unleash their payloads, but a lone falcon like monster with a wingspan of at least a dozen feet managed to weather the interlocking railgun fire where its fellows did not and unleashed a cluster of rockets at Neia. Unfazed, she just unslung Ultimate Shooting Star Super and used her **Gatling Arrow** skill to not only shoot down its rockets well outside the realm where she was in danger but also pepper the monster with enough arrows that it crashed to the ground as an inert wreck

"Hold the line! If we stand shoulder to shoulder, we can win this!" Neia shouted once more as she moved to the frontlines, lining up and taking any shot that she could at the enemy whilst making full use of her **Monster Slaying Arrow** and **Explosive Arrow** skills to down pseudo-Anaxims by the dozens.

The sight of which set the hearts of her men ablaze and made them fight harder. And by the time that Neia herself reached the front, the lines had stabilized. A no man's land having emerged between her troops and the prowling packs of the pseudo-Anaxims, both bestial and humanoid in appearance, where the two sides traded fire.

"Follow me!" Neia cried out to the troops at the section of the front she had reached. "Follow me and together we shall destroy these monsters!"

Her words were met with cheers but she doubted any of them realized how literal she was being. For as she strode past the ring of armored vehicles that now encircled their position, no one moved to stop or follow her. The troops just stared at her in stunned disbelief.

_That won't last long._ Neia thought as she raised her bow at the enemy who unlike her men were moving eagerly to attempt to kill her.

" **Rain Arrow!"** Neia incanted, activating her skill and showering the enemy with arrows as she fearlessly took her first step into the no man's land, killing dozens and stirring the brave men and women around her into action.

"Follow the Pope!" Someone yelled and soon a chorus of similar cries ran filled the air and her troops lunged forward.

Softened by Neia's skill, the enemy line could not withstand the counterattack and crumbled. It should have ended there, with her men exploiting the breach to surge into the enemy's rear lines.

However, the enemy had one last card to play.

"Servant of the evil god die!" A fanatical sounding voice roared as a massive vaguely humanoid colossus of twisted metal, stone and other miscellaneous debris including rather grimly bone that had a glowing crystal sarcophagus for a head landed just ahead of Neia thanks to the use of a jet pack built into its back.

* * *

_I have her now!_ Bert thought to himself happily as he leveled the plasma cannon he'd built into the right arm of his Necrofex Colossus at the damned leader of the morons who served Ainz Ooal Gown. She was a young woman, barely out of her teenage years if at all, and before all that had befallen him, the blonde would have elicited sympathy from him but that man was gone. This täuschen had sold her soul to the monster that had taken everything from him and thus deserved to die.

It was not to be however, for even as his cannon was still charging the girl raised her bow and shot an arrow at his Colossus' right shoulder with a cry of **Monster Slaying Arrow**. As the arrow struck, Bert was stunned as a large explosion tore his Necrofex's right arm clean off his machine altogether.

He'd seen ample proof of the strength of the girl's skills of course, but he'd never imagined it was powerful enough to damage his Necrofex! The weapon he'd built to kill the dark god himself!

Even as he reeled from shock however and his Necrofex staggered back from the blow, the archer girl did not flinch. She did not press her attack however but turned to her troops who had been intimidated by his arrival and spoke with that supernatural charisma of hers.

"Go brave soldiers! Leave this one to me! Go destroy the rest of his vile ilk!"

"The only one vile here is you!" Bert cried out angrily as his machine regained its balance and he brought the large vulcan he'd installed into its left arm to bear. "Die! Foul worshiper of Ainz Ooal Gown!"

His bullets slammed harmlessly against a series of glowing magical barriers as the Wizards of the enemy shielded their leader from his barrage. He idly noticed the rest of her men had heeded her earlier call and were tearing into the flanks of his army but he had no time for such concerns. He could rebuild Necrofexes easily, the chance to kill a leader of Ainz Ooal Gown's followers was an opportunity that was hard to come by.

This dismissive thought had barely finished crossing his mind when he noted with alarm that the girl had disappeared.

"Ho-"

"You talk too much." The girl's voice said from Bert's right and he spun inside his control sarcophagus to see her crouched on his shoulder with an arrow aimed right at him. " **Explosive Arrow!"**

"No~!" Bert howled in defiance even as largely unnoticed by himself a pulling sensation aentered around where his navel had been in life reached a crescendo seconds before the explosion from the archer's arrow would have consumed him.

* * *

_Thank Lord Ainz I chose to learn the_ _ **Shadow Step**_ _skill instead of just upping my accuracy the last time I leveled up my Sniper job class._ Neia thought as she used the skill to teleport away from the destruction of the colossal pseudo-Anaxim's head. A blow that as she watched the accursed thing topple over and became inert, had felled the monster.

_Hopefully, there aren't any more of those big ones._ Neia thought as she turned from the flaming wreck to search for more targets.

Finding a pack of the Hound type mechanical monsters, Neia briefly wondered on their strange behavior. Throughout the battle so far the enemy had behaved as a cohesive unit that suggested some kind of command structure. But now, the Hounds were as busy attacking each other as they her men trying to exterminate them.

_I can ponder why that is later. For now, let's give our guys a helping hand._

" **Arrow Rain!"** Neia incanted, sending a shower of arrows at the pack that thinned it out a great deal.

"My Lady!" An Elder Lich called to her suddenly as it braved the fighting all around them to reach her. "Lady Neia!"

"Yes?" Neia asked, as he sent a **Monster Slaying Arrow** at a particularly large, lanky humanoid pseudo-Anaxim and taking it down.

"Lady Renner sent me here to tell you that the enemy have all gone feral."

"I can see that for myself." Neia said with a raised eyebrow, gesturing at a pair of the bull shaped mechanical beasts that were locking horns with each other even as her men shot at them. "And why couldn't she just contact me via **Message**?"

"She said she didn't want to distract you." The Elder Lich said with a shrug.

_Guess he didn't buy it either._

"Knowing her she probably just wanted to pull me off the frontlines." Neia said with an exasperated sigh, knowing that her manipulative adjutant had succeeded there. While talking with the Elder Lich, the fighting had already shifted quite a ways from her position.

"But I'll play along, let's go back to the command Hippo."

"After you, my Lady." The undead said with a bow.

_I'll never get used to this kinda deference._

* * *

" _So those pseudo-Anaxims hit Qaragar too?"_ Lady Drau asked Lady Neia with a frown over a video link from her command center in Kaluth.

"Unfortunately," Lady Neia said with a frown. "We've barely swung north to head to the city and we're already picking up refugees reporting it."

"It seems that their leader hit both cities at the same time." Renner informed the leader of Lord Ainz's Chosen.

" _Makes sense."_ Lady Drau said as she ran a hand over her chin consideringly. " _Your scouts said they came over from Fallen Tymanchebar right?"_

Lady Neia nodded.

" _Then it makes sense for him to try to secure both Narvaar and Qarangar quickly. With them he'd hold the entire eastern part of the empire."_

"Well, I'm not sure he hasn't succeeded there." Lady Neia said with a sigh. "I might've killed him and turned his creations feral but they've still overrun the whole region."

" _Maybe but at least they're no longer an organized military threat. Just packs or individual roving monsters."_ Lady Drau countered. " _That should make them at least somewhat more easy to manage."_

"That is true, my Lady. But they pose a threat to all the villages and small communities in the region." Renner said, looking at Lady Neia carefully for whom she was acting as the mouthpiece on this occasion. "The security of which we need to guarantee."

Frankly, Renner thought they should just ignore all these insignificant settlements but Lady Neia was a bleeding heart and so as her loyal adjutant she had no choice but to play along.

" _Call in the garrison forces from Felmid that were originally slated to be stationed in Narvaar and Qarangar."_ Lady Drau said with an irritated frown. " _Have them handle it."_

"Thanks Drau."

" _No problem. Just move on Palendar as soon as you can. The Dragons are running scared and I don't want them to flee north and escape. Fimbrul has it's own problems, let's not add to it."_

"Gotcha, Drau! I'll get my men moving double time." Lady Neia assured her fellow Chosen with a smile.

" _You do that."_ Lady Drau said with a chuckle. " _Now why don't you get started on that? I want to ask Renner a few questions about what she found out about these pseudo-Anaxims."_

Lady Neia seemed surprised to be left out of the conversation, so Renner hastened to reassure her. "I'm simply repeating what I've already told you my Lady. Nothing more."

"Well, if that's all then fine." The divine archer said with a sigh of relief. "But you'll tell me if something new comes up?"

" _Of course we will. Now get going."_

Lady Neia still seemed a little reluctant, but nevertheless complied and headed off to start organizing the move to their new destination.

" _So what is it that you insisted I not let Neia hear about, Renner?"_ Lady Drau after they were both sure her fellow Chosen had left.

"I did not say that she could not learn of it, Lady Drau. Merely that you should hear it first before deciding if she should."

" _Semantics. What is this damning news that you've unearthed from analyzing the remains of the leader of these pseudo-Anaxims?"_

"Firstly, and I've already informed Lady Neia of this, they are apparently called Necrofexes."

Lady Drau rolled her eyes. " _Get to the point, would you?"_

"Apologies my Lady." Renner said offering the Chosen a remorseful bow. "Force of habit."

" _Yes, your reputation as a woman who cannot give a straight answer for anything precedes you, Renner. Even Fluder mentioned it."_

Renner had the grace to wince. Developing such a reputation among her own kind was one thing, but to have the Chosen come to feel the same about her was disastrous.

"I'll restrain myself."

" _Please do. Now what is it that is so damning?"_

Renner took a quick look around to ensure there was no one eavesdropping, a necessary precaution even though she'd swept the comms area twice for bugs or spells that might spy on the conversation and it was guarded by undead bound to her directly. Only when she was sure the coast was clear did she answer the Lady Drau's question.

"The identity of the person behind these Necrofexes, my Lady. He is from Lord Ainz's Earth."

The Dragon blinked in shock for a moment. " _How?"_

"It appears the god Oghma intervened. Though I think it more likely he just copied a mind from that Earth rather than having actually transported his soul here to Realmspace like what happened with Lord Ainz's apotheosis. That seems more in line with the limited capabilities of a local god."

" _Either way it makes whoever this is dangerous."_

"He calls himself Bert Saxer and yes, he is dangerous. Setting aside any sensitive information of the Supreme One he might know from their Earth, from what my minions were able to uncover from his machine he's obsessed with destroying our Lord. While I doubt he'll ever come close, he is satisfied with attacking his servants such as ourselves and hurting him wherever possible."

" _Making him a threat to our plans."_ Lady Drau noted. " _Wait. You mentioned he's obsessed? How obsessed?"_

"To the point of derangement."

" _That works in our favor. We can spin whatever dangerous information he might have as the ravings of an insane mind. Doing so would eliminate much of his threat."_

"You speak of him as if he's still alive."

" _Oghma went to the trouble of creating him. Do you think he'd let him die so easily? Neia might've defeated him for now but I have a feeling he'll be back."_

Renner frowned but nodded. She hadn't considered that. Her concern had been geared towards the leaking of Saxer's story and anything he might know about Lord Ainz's mortal life that might damage the Supreme One's reputation. If he was still alive, that was a whole new, bigger problem. A much bigger one.

"I suppose that's the best we can do."

" _Besides hunt him down and destroy him, but we'll need to figure out where he is first. I'll inform Father of this, if he doesn't already know, and have him follow up-"_

_I already have._ Lord Ainz's noble voice echoed into Renner's mind and by the look on Lady Drau's face hers as well. _Oghma has claimed Saxer as his own. He is to be his champion, his Exarch against me. According to the rules set down by Lord Ao that limits what I can do to him. That said, Oghma has agreed to withdraw him from the board for the moment so ignore him for now._

"As you command Lord Ainz." Renner said quickly.

" _So, I take it that you want us to focus on the liberation of Skelkor instead?"_

Renner did not get the pleasure of hearing Lord Ainz's voice again.

" _Father said yes by the way."_ Lady Drau said after a moment.

The Momon just nodded in disappointment. Hearing the Supreme One's voice was a great honor and she should be elated to have been gifted with the chance, but she couldn't help but wish she'd heard more of it.

" _As for who and what Saxer is."_ Lady Drau said ignoring Renner's pout. " _Tell Neia. This isn't something we should keep from her."_

"As you command, my Lady."

" _You did well to be discreet with this, Renner. Good job."_

Renner returned the compliment with a smile and made her pleasantries before cutting the call on auto-pilot. She was too busy plotting how to break the secret of Saxer's identity to her commander. Once the feed had been disconnected, she began adjusting her face with her hands, pushing her muscles this way and that to try and shape it into the perfect mask of chastised and apologetic that she wanted.

It took a moment and a few glances into the hand mirror she always kept on her person but soon she was ready to effusively apologize to Lady Neia for keeping secrets from her and beg her forgiveness. Mentally smirking to herself for a job well done, she left the command tent in search of her commander with her mask firmly in place.

_I'm sure she'll buy my act. Everyone always has._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Not too happy with this one. It felt clunky at points but I can't really think of how to fix it so I'm publishing it as is.
> 
> Now onto things to discuss from this chapter.
> 
> Why would Oghma create something like Saxer? Simple really. He is the Lord of Knowledge, so why would he deny himself the chance to learn something of Ainz Ooal Gown's homeworld? And having created a creature with a seething hatred for this new, dangerous primordial why not use him as his pawn against his interests?
> 
> As for why Saxer is such a pushover? It's because he was an overconfident fool. He doesn't realize just what Neia is. He thinks she's just a normal human who sold her soul to Ainz, not one of his avatars given her own independence. So he got owned because of it. Basically, he's like Zero just before he got killed by Sebas in canon!Overlord.
> 
> Why was Renner and Drau so worried about Saxer at the end there? Well, they're not so much worried that people realize Ainz was mortal. There are plenty of formerly mortal gods in Realmspace. What they are worried about is whether he knows anything potentially damaging about Ainz from when he was mortal. Which he doesn't, but they don't know that.
> 
> Lastly, the bit where Renner is messing around with her face to take on a particular expression she wants? That's a nod to a similar scene in the anime which was used to give us a glimpse at canon!Renner's true nature. I just added it here as a homage, not much else.
> 
> Well that's all this chapter folks so till next time qoştasw!


	30. Skelkor War 8: Battle of Marangor

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 8: Battle of Marangor**

**Beta:**

* * *

"This is pretty good." Drau commented as she took a slice of the Scathebeast meat that the cooks had prepared for tonight's dinner. They had liberated a large ranch of the large, slug like herd animals a week or so ago and ever since her quartermaster had taken to supplementing their rations with its supplies. "I can see why the troops like it."

"I think the very fact that they have fresh meat at all is enough for them." Fluder, her Momon adjutant, said with a raised eyebrow. "I have it on good authority its a slight bit better than the combat rations they've been subsisting on before we took that ranch."

"On good authority?" Drau asked with a questioning look at the undead creature wearing the guise of an old man. "You haven't tried it for yourself?"

"While I can eat it if I feel the need. Such an occurrence has not arisen."

"Your loss then. This is quite good." Drau told him as she ate another slice of the meat.

"I'll trust you on the matter."

Drau rolled her eyes.

"Since you're not going to eat. How about you update me on our situation while I do?"

"Gladly, my Lady." The Momon said as he pulled a tablet computer out and synced it to the holographic projector set up at the center of the wooden table they both occupied in the cordoned off section of the command tent that had been allocated as Drau's office.

"The city of Kaluth within which we are encamped has been fully secured." Fluder reported pointing at a projection of the city. "The last of the Skelkor loyalists have been hunted down and neutralized. Furthermore, garrison forces from Felmid have began to arrive. We should be able to begin to move out by tomorrow."

"And the broader strategic situation?" Drau asked as she took a sip of wine. An excellent bottle that one of her commanders had liberated from the ruins of some Dragon's estate when they liberated the city and had gifted to her.

Fluder zoomed the image on the projector out to a national scale map of Skelkor. A map that Drau was pleased to see was a field of green liberated zones with only a smattering of red enemy controlled zones remaining.

"Lady Yorha and Lord Kuro's detachment reported in three hours ago that they've moved out from Ulavaar and en route to the rendezvous location. Similarly, the rebels in Lamrar have taken the city from the handful of Dragons that remained in the city thanks to the anti-Dragon arms we provided them and were distributed by Lord Demiurge's agents."

"And Neia's position?"

Fluder nodded and pointed to a marker on the map.

"Lady Neia's army is making good time since they liberated Pelandar two weeks ago. They should reach the rendezvous within the expected time frame." Fluder informed her while running a hand through his beard. "Overall, everything is going well."

"Too well," Drau said as she looked at the map with a frown. "While Gauwervyndhal might have just been avoiding battle out of fear of Father, I highly doubt the Empress Dragon would sit idly by as her Empire is taken from her even if it was by the will of a god."

"Agreed, my Lady." Fluder said with narrowed eyes. "The weak resistance she and her Dragons had put up so far is also worrisome. The heaviest resistance since the fall of Dearr and Arangyn we've faced was from that Saxer creature and the army of feral Necrofexes he left behind in the wake of his defeat."

"So you think the enemy is planning something as well?"

"There is no doubt of that. The question is _what_ they intend."

"What indeed." Drau said with narrowed eyes.

* * *

Three weeks later, everyone had gathered inside a headquarters they'd established at their rendezvous point two days march from Marangor to discuss their plans to liberate the city. A number that included reinforcements in the form of a division's worth of Sacrificial Cherubs led by one of their number named Malthael and priests of Sebas Tian under the leadership of the sister of the cult's founder herself, Magepriest Norininya Veyron.

"Before we begin the actual planning, let me extend my thanks once again for the aid of your forces Lord Malthael, Lady Veryon."

"I think I speak for both of us, Lady Drau when I say we are happy to help see the Supreme One's will be done." The Magepriest said with Malthael nodding along in agreement.

"I hope this isn't too forward of me but would you two mind explaining what abilities, substantial I'm sure they must be, that you bring to our efforts?"

Lord Malthael and Magepriest Veryon exchanged a look with the Human nodding to the Angel to go first. Offering the Magepriest a grateful nod, the Angel turned to Drau and began explaining the capabilities of his kind.

"Ol kind has access de various spells aziazor **Holy Ray** od **Holy Smite** g effects aziazor de ds a people c Toril canse noan umd Radiant spells. Beyond ar ge t blans ah lesser version c ge qaal, tabaan victim's bab de 'die' lap ah capimao g order de cast a micalz amma **Sacrificial Bind**." (My kind has access to various spells like **Holy Ray** and **Holy Smite** with effects alike to what the people of Toril might be called Radiant spells. Beyond that we also possess a lesser version of our creator, Lord Victim's ability to 'die' for a period in order to cast the powerful spell **Sacrificial Bind** )."

It was fortunate that the Angel's strange Enochian language was automatically comprehensible by all beings, if not it would've been impossible to understand what he was saying. As it was, Drau felt a twinge of a headache just from hearing him speak at all.

"Do you have any healing spells?" Neia, who had taken charge of organizing their support units, asked the Angel.

"Cor cirp ge plosi (Some but not many)."

"Good enough." Neia said, before looking at Drau seriously. "They're rear liners no matter what, might as well have them use their healing to good use and attach them to the healing corps."

"Makes sense," Dray agreed with a nod. "Any issues with that Lord Malthael?"

"If ol may, ol trian aziazor de keep cor c ol kin g reserve ar ar par may noan available fafen a need de use **Sacrificial Bind** arises. If ge geh tol tied farzm supporting a healers, ge canse ge noan g ah pi de use ge greatest bab. (If I may, I would like to keep some of my kin in reserve so that they may be available should the need to use **Sacrificial Bind** arises. If we are all tied up supporting the healers, we might not be in a position to use our greatest ability.)"

"Agreed." Drau said without hesitation at the logical suggestion. "You can discuss with Neia about how many of your kin you want to attach to the healers and how many he'd like to keep on standby after this."

The fetal looking Angel bobbed its head in its version of an agreeing nod.

"I suppose it's my turn then." Magepriest Veryon said with a girlish giggle that betrayed her young age, though none faulted her for it. "Well, we priests of Lord Sebas are a diverse lot actually. Our Lord preaches that all have a duty to serve others in whatever way we can, so we take in people with all kinds of skills."

"How then do you think we should best deploy your men?" Drau asked with a frown.

"We're organized into various teams much like adventuring parties where our abilities and skills are balanced out." The young Magepriest said. "So deploying us as those would probably be best. Though how that will fit in with the rest of the army I wouldn't know."

_You and me both._ Drau thought with a frown.

"I recommend using them as rapid response units," Yorha suggested. "Adventurer parties are supposed to be versatile so having them play the role of problem solvers fits."

"That works," Taana chimed in with her support for the idea. "Just imagine us in their shoes Drau. Where would you place us? Exactly where Yorha suggested."

"Alright, you two have made your point." Drau said with a good natured shake of her head. "We'll go with that plan then. We'll scatter the Priests of Lord Sebas in their teams throughout our formations and have them act as rapid responders. Is that acceptable, Lady Veryon?"

"It is," the girl said with a nod. "You're more experienced with this than I am. I trust your judgement."

"If that's settled then let's-"

"I have a question for the Magepriest," Gaul said cutting Drau off.

"Yes?" The Veryon girl said in something that just barely managed to avoid coming across as a squeak.

"I saw some of your priests using what appeared to be YGGDRASIL system spells earlier when I was on the way here. Was my observation correct?"

"Oh yes!" The Magepriest said with a hasty nod. "All of us who receive the blessing of Lord Sebas and become his priests are granted the boon to transit to the YGGDRASIL system with any skills or spells we previously had access to converting as well."

"That's convenient," Kuro noted from where he rested on Yorha's shoulders. "It'll make things easier to keep track of."

"Yes," Veryon said with a happy nod. "Mana is a lot easier to manage than spell slots, especially with mana potions."

"Lucky," Taana said with a pout. "I'm still stuck on the old system."

"Maybe you should pray to Lord Ainz for a switch." Neia suggested. "Have you tried that?"

"I'm an idiot." The Shadar-kai said as she slapped her forehead in exasperation.

"I'm guessing you didn't?" Gaul teased as the rest of the party chuckled. Even Mathael and Veryon seemed amused.

"Alright, we'll leave Taana to rectify her mistake on her own later. For now, let's start on our planning."

* * *

Three days later and Yorha and Kuro were leading a contingent of their men as they set up siegeworks within striking distance of Marangor as part of what everyone was hoping would be the final offensive of the war.

"We're so close, yet they're not sortieing out to stop us?" Yorha commented with a frown as she stood on a small mound of earth and looked over the heads of her men working to build various fortifications to gaze at the massive concentric walls of Skelkor's capital. "What is the enemy thinking?"

"I dunno Yorha," Kuro replied from his usual spot on her shoulders. "But I have a feeling we're not going to like what they've cooked up."

Yorha hummed in agreement.

Their contemplative moment was interrupted when their adjutant, a Momon by the name of Caspond who had the human guise of a tall man with blue eyes and straight long blond hair who appeared to be in his late twenties or early thirties, came over.

"My Lady, my Lord, we just received word that the last units have moved into position and begun building their siegeworks."

"Uncontested?" Yorha asked with a frown.

"Yes, milady."

"Something is wrong here." Kuro noted. "Very wrong."

As if his words were a cue, and perhaps it was, the ground below where they stood shook for a moment and Yorha glanced down at it with narrowed eyes.

"Did you feel that?"

"I did," Caspond acknowledged with his brows furrowed. "You don't think-"

Yorha didn't wait for him to finish his sentence.

"Everyone!" She shouted at her men. "Prepare for subterranean breach!"

She'd barely given the order and her men were still just scrambling to react when three patches of earth right in the middle of their position collapsed into the ground like a set of sinkholes and from their depths emerged wingless Adult Brown Dragons that promptly unleashed their acidic breath weapon on everything within range reducing men and machines to little more than sand and dust.

"Caspond! Rally the men! Avoid a panic!" Yorha shouted as she leapt off the hill at the nearest Dragon. "We'll handle the Dragons."

"Yorha I've got the one behind us! Meet up at the last one!" Kuro shouted as he pushed off her shoulders, already pulling in biomass from the pocket dimension he stored the unused material whenever he didn't need it and shifting into his Brainstealer Dragon form.

" **Beast Cutter,"** Yorha whispered as she cut the Brown Dragon she was facing almost in half with the skill's energy blade.

But even as its corpse collapsed to the ground, it was replaced by a slender and agile amethyst scaled Adult Purple Dragon which was wrapped in some kind of magical barrier that protected it from the direct sunlight that was its natural nemesis. The damnable Deep Dragon was probably readying its psychic breath weapon, from experience Yorha knew Dragons _loved_ to open fights with their primary natural weapon. She didn't give it a chance however and used **Sword Blitz** to shoot herself across the pit from which it had emerged, decapitating it in the process.

Landing on the other side, she stabbed her Musashi into the ground and activated one of the new skills she learned from mastering the Sword Saint job class.

" **Smashing Point!"** She said invoking the skill and causing the lip of the tunnel the Dragons had emerged from to collapse and fill it in.

With this fire put out, Yorha looked up and spotted Kuro fighting a similar pair of opponents as she had. He was doing fine though, having already dealt with the Brown Dragon and was currently engaging in what looked like a duel with the Purple Dragon, so she quickly looked away for somewhere else which needed her help more. A short distance away from Kuro she saw the third emergence point and its Dragons being contained by a group of the Priests of Sebas, they were doing a good job but could use the assistance so Yorha ran towards them.

" **Beast Cutter."** She whispered as she took off the head of the Purple which had been using its psychic powers to sow confusion amidst the Priests of Sebas.

"Now!" Their leader, which Yorha belatedly realized was Magepriest Veryon herself, ordered her fellows. "Finish that Brown!"

"Ol trian assist. (I will assist)." A nearby Sacrificial Cherub said before it exploded in a shower of motes of blood red energy and a cry of " **Sacrificial Bind** ".

The crimson energies formed into thick chains of raw magic that quickly snaked around the Brown and dragged it to the ground where the Priests of Sebas unleashed their full arsenals against it. It wasn't quite enough so Yorha added her own **Nine-Head Dragon Flash** to the mix and blitzing onto its bound head stabbed at nine vital points on its cranium. This tipped the scales and the Brown finally stilled.

"Thanks for the assist, Lady Yorha." Magepriest Veryon said with a grin. "That was a tough one."

Yorha offered her a smile in return as well. "Glad to help. But this is only the beginning."

The priestess looked confused for a moment before one of her comrades tugged on her arm and pointed towards Marangor. As Veryon turned, she paled.

Yorha couldn't blame her. She too had stilled for a moment as she herself turned and caught sight of the huge army of Dragons, hundreds of them, that were flying out of city towards them. There were enough of them that they almost blotted out the sun. It was a truly terrifying thing, though it did not fill Yorha with fear. Just defiance.

_No matter what. You lot_ will _be defeated today._ She promised herself as she pointed her Musashi at the incoming Dragonic horde with murderous intent.

* * *

Even before Kuro finished his transformation into his Brainstealer form he let loose with the full force of its psychic might and ripped into the Brown Dragon. To his surprise, despite the many thousands of minds he'd consumed and the psychic strength they'd given him it was not enough to tear the fool Dragon's mind apart.

It did stagger him though and that was enough of an opening for Kuro to lash out with the tentacles around his mouth and wrap them around its neck. Immediately the monster's sand colored scales hissed and boiled away as his corrosive nature ate through them and its flesh beneath. The Dragon struggled, even unleashing its acid breath on him which to the super corrosive Blacklight Slime felt like little more than a gentle grizzle. It didn't take long at all for him to eat clean through the Dragon's neck.

He was a little distracted by the Brown's collapsing body and so missed as a purple scaled Dragon shimmied out the tunnel and slammed into him. The new Dragon began clawing at Kuro for a moment before with a shriek of pain it pulled away sharply, much of its body steaming from the contact with the Blacklight Slime's body.

"Fool," Kuro said aloud as it launched a spear of psychic energy into the monster's mind.

Despite its pain and surprise, the Purple Dragon actually managed a credible defense and soon the two landed, settling into a duel of minds.

Unlike the Purple who was struggling with all its will to keep going, Kuro had enough wherewithal even as he pressed the attack to do a few other things like use a telekinetic blast to seal the tunnel that his opponents had surfaced from and lash out at his enemy with his tentacles. The Purple tried to evade, but too much of its concentration was focused on keeping Kuro out of its mind and its attempts was lackluster and futile. Thus Kuro easily coiled his tentacles around the Purple's body and began dragging it towards him.

It could sense the Purple's panic then, as its flesh burned and it was dragged to its doom. Yet it still fought desperately to keep Kuro out of its mind. Not that its valiant efforts saved it as Kuro finished reeling the struggling Dragon in and smothered it, the Purple's concentration broke as it was overcome by its fear and the Slime dove into its mind with a vengeance, tearing every memory, thought and emotion to shreds. All whilst he happily smothered the Dragon's physical body with his own and started to consume him.

Kuro was elated at his victory and would have liked a moment or two to savor it, but sadly he did not get the chance. As with his focus on the immediate threat gone, he finally noticed the swarm of Dragons flying towards them.

"Well shit."

* * *

"Lord Gauldoth, I think we need more Zombie Dragons." Kelart said, looking at him with a frown as they both watched the sight of Skelkor's surviving Dragons flying out en masse to meet them in battle. "A lot more."

Gauldoth didn't bother dignifying that with a response, instead he began barking orders.

"Have our ZD squadrons shift positions to protect our AA! They'll be essential in this fight, we can't let them be taken out." Gauldoth shouted as he looked away from the incoming enemy army to their tactical display of his command tent. "And get our guns firing already!"

He'd barely given the order when the Sigurds and even the artillery units under his command began unloading their various anti-air ordinance at the enemy. He was pleased to note, this was followed only seconds later by the other commands likewise unleashing hell on the enemy who were dying in droves.

"They're using Wyrmlings and Young Dragons to screen the older, more powerful Dragons. " Gaul noted with a frown as he saw that the youngest of the enemy Dragons had disproportionately made up the majority of their recent kills.

_Smart bastards._ The necromancer grudgingly admitted.

"How long till they get within range of our forces?"

"Minutes," Kelart reported. "Should we have our necromancers raise the recently slain Dragons? They are within _our_ range."

"Do that." Gaul said with a nod. "And have them harry and disrupt the enemy as much as possible."

Kelart immediately used **Message** to begin relaying that order, but Gaul ignored her to instead pick his targets.

_I'll have to aim it to the rear of their formation. What luck that's exactly where the most dangerous enemies are._ Gauldoth thought with a vicious smirk.

" **Triplet, Maximize Magic: Meteor Fall!"** Gaul cast, the bloodthirsty grin still plastered on his face.

At his invocation, three large meteors each at least twice as large as the biggest of the enemy Dragons began falling from the sky whilst surrounded by auras of shimmering light which blinded all onlookers temporarily. This was a minor inconvenience to many of their troops he was sure, but he didn't care. They would be grateful for the aftermath anyways.

Something he was sure of when the three meteors hit their targets, each an Ancient Dragon, and smashed them out of the sky before squashing them into the ground like the bugs that they were whereupon the meteors exploded. The blasts flattened everything they touched, which included much of Marangor unfortunately, and pulverized most else caught in their radius which included the bulk of the Dragons' slave armies that had just began pouring out of the city. They were joined by many of their masters as well who were impaled by hypersonic shards or boulders of rock thrown up by the blast.

With one spell, Gauldoth had devastated the Dragon army. Reducing it to a tenth of what it was before. Thus even as he staggered from the drain on his mana reserves and had to be caught by Kelart before he collapsed, he still sported a triumphant grin.

"Eat that, you slaving bastards."

* * *

"Arche! Don't slack off on the AA fire! Even after Gaul's spell there are still plenty of enemy Dragons still alive!" Taana ordered over the earbud comms unit she'd equipped as she lined up a shot with Zwing and channeling a **Call Lightning Storm** sent a supercharged lightning arrow through the side of an Adult Red Dragon and blasting a hole through the monster.

" _Roger."_ Arche said, her usually soft, sweet voice strained by the rigors of combat. " _Stay safe up there, Lady Taana."_

"Yes ma'am." Taana shot back teasingly as she jinked out of the way of a frost breath shot at her by a Young White Dragon. It was already sporting a plethora of wounds so instead of taking it out with Zwing, Taana drew on one of the secondary effects of the **Lord of the Sky** spell she was using to fly and had bolts of lightning shoot out of the swirling cloud of black mist that surrounded her. They were more than enough, weak though they were by Taana's standards, to shock the White into temporary paralysis and leave it open for the fire of one of her Sigurds on the ground below to stitch it up.

Even as the White's body fell to the ground, Taana took a shot at an Adult Black attempting a strafing run on her troops with a **Dragon Lightning** enhanced arrow from Zwing that ripped an entire wing off the Black.

_Thank goodness Lord Ainz answered my prayers._ Taana thought as she readied another lightning arrow infused with the YGGDRASIL spell and this time sent it through the neck of the Black that finished it off, all whilst she absently danced through the air to avoid the flaming lances sent her way by a pack of Red Wyrmlings. _If I was still running off spell slots, I'd have run out ages ago. Mana and cooldowns are just so much more efficient!_

"Like so," Taana said to herself with a grin as she cast one of her spells which just finished cooling down. " **Call Lightning Storm!"**

Fifteen bolts of magically charged lightning fell down from the heavens and unerringly sought out all seven members of the pack of Reds harassing Taana and cooked them alive.

It was a beautiful sight in Taana's opinion, but she had little time to admire it. Pulling a mana potion out of her supply pouch at her hip, she popped its cork open with familiar ease and downed it to recharge her pool, she searched the skies once so crowded with enemy Dragons but now practically clear of them for her next targets and saw a mixed group duking it out with one of Gaul's ZD squadrons not far off.

"I'd reckon they'd appreciate an assist." Taana said to herself with a grin as she tossed the empty bottle aside and shot towards the aerial skirmish like a bolt of lightning.

* * *

"See! There is no need to fear!" Neia spoke with the full suite of her Evangelist powers through the sound system of her custom Hippo, her voice and its power carrying across the length and breadth of their lines. "The enemy is being turned back. By your bravery, by the strength of our champions, by the will of Ainz Ooal Gown, they have been turned back!"

With every word, the soldiers all around her began moving with increased confidence, fought with greater focus. Such was the phenomenal power of inspiration that was an Evangelist.

"Here come the Dragons' deluded slaves," Neia said pointing to the horizon where the first elements of the Dragons' ground armies who had survived Gaul's dramatic spell were coming into view. "Soldiers of Ainz Ooal Gown! Kill them! Kill all who stand in the way of our god!"

As Neia's troops mowed down the disorganized masses of the Skelkor's slave soldiers, she allowed herself a rueful shake of her head.

_Gaul really did a number on them, huh? I'd pity them if they weren't trying to kill us. Though I have to wonder why they are still loyal to the Dragons even after all this?_

The answer to that revealed itself moments into the slaughter as a dragon with rose-reddish scales suddenly rose from the ruins of Marangor and roared her defiance. It was gigantic. It had wings that were at least three hundred feet wide from wingtip to wingtip with a body that must have been at least eighty feet tall, only slightly less wide and a hundred and fifty feet long. A size that put even the biggest of the Ancient Dragons they'd fought so far to shame.

"That's a big Dragon." Neia heard Renner say in a shocked whisper through the open hatch of the command Hippo she was standing on.

"Do not fear!" Neia shouted to the suddenly shaken ranks of her army. "That Dragon might be massive! But we have a Dragon all our own who is mightier still! Look!"

At that she pointed in the direction of Drau's camp which was suddenly engulfed in a pillar of rainbow colored light.

* * *

Some time before the gigantic Dragon made its appearance, Drau stood with Fluder by her side as she reviewed the battle so far.

"So this is what she had planned?" Drau said as she shook her head in disappointment. "An attempt to destroy us all at one shot? I suppose there is an elegance to this simple plan if I squinted at it."

"It might be simple, my Lady." The elderly looking Momon said while running a hand through his long beard. "But effective. It did almost break our morale. If not for Lord Gauldoth's spell, I doubt we'd have held the line."

"True, hence the elegance to it." Drau acknowledged. "And if we did break here, the blow to our morale would be immense. Perhaps irrecoverably so."

"I wouldn't go that far." Fluder said with a shake of his head. "But it would have made things very difficult indeed."

"The enemy ground forces are just about to make contact with our lines." Drau noted as she gestured to the tactical display. "I wonder why they're still fighting though. Most of their Masters are dead."

"Yes, but the Em-"

"My Lady," an Elder Lich said as it hurried over in a state that could only be described as harried. This in spite of its undead nature usually preventing it from developing such behavior. "You need to see this!"

Frowning, Drau followed the Lich out of the tent with Fluder trailing behind her where it proceeded to point towards through the ruined walls of Marangor.

"What am I lo-"

Before she could even finish the sentence, Drau saw it. There was movement at the wrecked heart of the city. Huge chunks of stone were moving as if something truly massive was pushing up from underneath.

"What in the Nine Hells?" Drau said as she saw the moving pile of rubble suddenly explode upwards from some kind of magical blast and from the hole revealed by it, a gigantic Dragon with rose-reddish scales began to emerge.

"Gauwervyndhal." Drau said with absolute certainty.

"It would appear so," Fluder said with narrowed eyes as with a furious roar, the enormous Dragon Empress of Skelkor took to the air. "Defeating her won't be easy."

"No, it won't. But we _won't_ lose here. I won't allow it." Drau said as she called on her shapeshifting job class and began the transformation into her true form.

A pillar of rainbow light descended on her camp and she floated into the air even as her body began to change. Her human shape disappeared and was replaced by that of a Dragon, equally as large if not slightly larger than Gauwervyndhal. Scales began pushing their way out of her flesh, each harder than adamantite and so small it appeared as if she had skin as smooth as a snake's. Each of these scales glowed with a bright light that combined together to give her the appearance of a rainbow aura.

"Gauwervyndhal!" Drau roared as her transformation completed a second later. "I challenge you to single combat!"

The infamous Dragon Empress looked at Drau in shock for a moment before giving her reply in the form of a breath of white hot flame.

Drau simply tanked the torrent of fire, her scales keeping her safe through the power of her **Imperial Scales** passive ability which negated the much of the power of incoming enemy attacks. She thus flew straight through the fiery breath and right in front of Gauwervyndhal's snout before she proceeded to whip her hard with her tail.

The startled Gauwervyndhal didn't even evade and was slammed into the ground by the hit, cratering it in the process.

Roaring in anger, the Dragon Empress surged to her feet even as a hundred different bolts of magic shot at Drau who simply ignored them and readied a breath weapon.

The spells splashed harmlessly against her scales, the insane levels of magical resistance granted to her by her **Rainbow Scales** passive ability negating the majority of them. The handful which did hit weren't a concern either, as they were heavily weakened by her **Imperial Scales** and the limited damage that she did sustain was almost immediately healed by her **Primeval Regeneration**.

"Impossible!" Gauwervyndhal roared in shock. "That was enough magic to wipe out an entire army! How could you just take it head on without even flinching!"

" **Explosive Breath!"** Drau hissed in lieu of a reply, breathing an immense explosive fireball that was the breath weapon of her Explosive Dragon form at her fellow female Dragon.

Her opponent perhaps sensing the danger of the attack or just acting on her legendary paranoia wisely chose to dodge rather than shield against it, leaping into the air.

This caused the fireball to impact the already battered city they were fighting over which was consumed in a powerful explosion that stained the world with a blinding white flash, caused a thunderous roar and unleashed a tremendous heat flare. The shockwave created by the blast blew the land apart and the rising dirt and sand formed a mushroom cloud in the air. Caught in the shockwave outside of the safety of fortified positions, much of Gauwervyndhal's surviving slave armies died and even Drau's friendly forces struggled to weather it under the protection of hastily thrown up magical barriers. She barely noticed though as most of her attention was focused on the Empress Dragon who had survived the titanic explosion and shockwave at the cost of a formidable set of magical protections that shattered before disintegrating.

_That's her magical protection dealt with._ Drau thought even as she thanked her Father for just how effective her **Imperial** and **Rainbow Scales** were at damage mitigation and the powerful healing abilities of **Primeval Regeneration**. Without this trio of defensive passive skills she'd likely be torn apart by her own attack without the innate resistance to the powerful **Explosive Breath** that her Explosive Dragon form did.

"To answer your earlier question," Drau said as she and her opponent warily circled each other in the air over Marangor. "I'm a Primeval Dragon Lord. In this, my true form, my scales are nigh impenetrable even to magic."

"Primeval Dragon Lord?" Gauwervyndha asked even as she breathed lightning at Drau who once more just weathered the attack and retaliated with the **Chill Breath** of her Frost Dragon form, intent on at least slowing down her opponent so she could finish her off.

But proving the necessity for such, Gauwervyndhal smoothly curved around her blast of cold and flew in close, her claws at the ready to rip and tear.

"There's no such thing!" The Empress Dragon roared as the two gigantic Dragons collided in mid air and began tearing into each other.

"Not on your world perhaps." Drau shouted back as she and Gauwervyndhal both fought to move their heads into a favorable position to unleash their breath weapons on each other, completely ignoring the deep gashes they were gouging in each other's flesh with their claws. Though Drau was doing better in that regard thanks to the nigh spontaneous healing of her **Primeval Regeneration**.

Finally Gauwervyndhal won the duel between their heads and breathed out a cloud of corrosive gas down Drau's back. The daughter of Ainz Ooal Gown was unfazed however, trusting in her trinity of defensive skills to deal with it and instead just chuckled.

"Checkmate, you idiot." The Primeval Prismatic Dragon Lord said as she bit down hard on the Empress Dragon's neck and yanked back with all her strength

The rose-reddish Dragon howled in agony and pulled back in agony, its scales suddenly rapidly shifting colors first to purple but then to every shade to ever grace the body of a Chromatic Dragon as she tore free of Drau's bite sans big chunk of her neck.

_So she's a spawn of Tiamat._ Drau realized. _That explains a lot. Wonder how she ended up on Abeir?_

Said spawn of the Queen of Evil Dragonkind in the meantime was hurriedly healing herself.

" **Heal!"** Gauwervyndhal cried out over and over again as her torn out throat began to close, while she tried to fly in evasive patterns.

The key word there was 'try'. She was so preoccupied with escaping death by healing her injury that she wasn't doing a very good job of it.

" **Chill Breath."** Drau hissed as she breathed a blast of freezing energy that proceeded to wash over the Empress Dragon who howled in pain even as the extremities of her limbs froze over slightly. The ice on her wings was especially damning as it slowed her movements.

She tried to respond by breathing fire on herself, her scales turning red as she did so but it was too little too late. Even as the first embers of her flaming breath left her mouth, Drau's own far deadlier breath weapon had leapt from hers.

" **Soulbreaker Breath!"** Drau said with grim finality as she launched the deadly soul destroying attack of her Elder Coffin Dragon form from her maw, its green beam lancing through Gauwervyndhal without the slightest resistance.

The moment it struck, the feared Empress Dragon's soul was ripped from her body. It was visible as a translucent rainbow colored specter for a moment before it shattered like a pane of glass and Gauwervyndhal died. With her death, her immense body fell towards the earth like a stone. It was heading right towards a cluster of friendly troops though, so Drau swooped down and caught the bulk in her claws.

_Damned this is heavy._ She thought even as her men below cheered at the sight and the remaining Skelkor loyalists stood frozen in shock. _But maybe I can use this corpse to my advantage._

"Surrender!" Drau said to the slave soldiers. "Surrender and your lives will be spared."

There was silence for a moment before first one sword then another was discarded, until soon the sound of weapons being thrown down became deafening.

A couple of the Skelkor Dragons looked at Drau hopefully, but she just shot them a vicious grin.

"No surrender for you lot." Drau said as she prepared a breath weapon. " **Laser Breath!"**

This wasn't one of the breath weapons of one of her other Dragon forms, but a spur of the moment creation made possible by the **Rainbow Breath** skill that was the foundation of her breath weapon in this form. It allowed her to fire anything she could dream up. In this case, this was a laser beam that flew through the air like an eel through water cutting any Skelkor Dragon it found into pieces. She sadly couldn't keep the beam going for long before the skill went into cooldown but it had been long enough to kill many an enemy whilst making the message clear.

In a fearful panic, the other Dragons fled. Flying right into AA barrages or Taana's arrows in their bid to escape, not that Drau didn't join in on the fun. She had her fair share of fun too as she reused her **Laser Breath** the moment her skill cooled down to shoot them out of the sky alongside her allies. Even the Sacrificial Cherubs got in on the act, as they used their **Sarcifical Bind** skills to bind as many of the fleeing Dragons as they could.

It was largely thanks to their help that precious few managed to get away.

And that was how the Battle of Marangor ended with the slaughter of its former rulers. Just as Father willed it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> I hope that the climax of this 'book' was enjoyable. There's only an epilogue of sorts to it and then it's on to the final book of this story.
> 
> So what the hell is Drau? Well, I'll give slightly more of an explanation next chapter but basically she's Ainz's ultimate form of what he'd be like if he was a Dragon. Is it OP? Of course, this is the ultimate Dragon of the Overlord of OP himself.
> 
> Some of you might be wondering how is Gauwervyndhal a spawn of Tiamat and what is she doing on godless Aebir where she ruled Skelkor for ages even before the Spellplague dumped it back on Toril if she is? Well, this is an D&D inspired story so some mysteries will remain unresolved just like so many things in the canon universe are so I'll leave it up to your imagination. Just know that travel between Aebir and Toril while hard wasn't impossible.
> 
> Well that's it for now folks. So till next time adeus!


	31. Skelkor War 9: Nation-building

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Skelkor War**

**Chapter 9: Nation-building**

**Beta:**

* * *

Neia lifted the Wyrmcrown, a powerful magical artifact and the ceremonial symbol of the ruler of Skelkor, up for the masses to see and held it there for a moment as part of Drau's coronation ceremony.

Why was she being crowned ruler of Skelkor? Well, in the wake of the Battle of Marangor and Gauwervyndhal's death at the hands of Drau, the empire's people and a fair number of their troops, had demanded their leader become Skelkor's new empress. And to prevent chaos, the Dragon had agreed.

_I can still hardly believe it though._ Neia thought as she held the crown up.

After a minute of doing so, Neia turned from the crowds gathered in the ruins of Marangor and placed the crown firmly atop the head of Drau's kneeling human form. Which for once was not wearing either her mechanical armor or the bodysuit she usually wore underneath. Instead she was dressed in a strapless dress with a neckline that exposed her shoulders whose fabric was ruched throughout. It hugged her curvaceous figure all the way till her waist before it flared out into a voluminous skirt. The dress' purple color was the exact same hue as Drau's eyes and paired well with the way she'd let her long blonde hair flow down her back. All in all, her current appearance was an elegant departure from the norm and quite clearly demonstrated the beauty of her human form that was usually hidden by her armor.

"Draudillon Oriculus." Neia, herself dressed in elaborate ceremonial robes, said in a voice that carried to the whole liberated nation thanks to the screenings of the event set up in all its communities by the liberating armies. "By the power invested in me by the Supreme One Ainz Ooal Gown as the Pope of his church, I hereby declare you the new Empress of Skelkor. Raise and greet your people."

Drau offered Neia a smile as the Pope stepped aside and she stood, an act that was met with rapturous cheers from the crowd.

She then strode forward and raised both her hands, gesturing for silence. It took a moment but eventually the excited masses obeyed and their new Empress addressed them for the first time.

"People of Skelkor, I am honoured that you have chosen me to wear the Wyrmcrown and serve you as your Empress." Neia watched Drau say as she moved to stand next to Yorha and the rest of their party at the side of the stage built for the occasion.

"You write this speech for her?" Kuro whispered from where he rested, as usual, on Yorha's shoulder.

Neia just nodded before gesturing back to the speech. The Slime looked a little disappointed that was all he'd got but complied.

"I will serve you as best as I am able," Drau said in the brief time Kuro and Neia had conversed. "And I will do my best to ease the transition we will soon be making."

There were murmurs in the crowd at this, more Neia noticed with satisfaction from the newly liberated slaves than from their troops. While their men might not have all the details, they at least knew enough to have an idea of what to expect. They were counting on that to prevent pandemonium when Drau finally dropped the bomb.

"'What transition?' Some of you might ask." Drau continued, ignoring the murmurs. "To my rule perhaps? No, nothing so simple. By the will of our Father, the great god Ainz Ooal Gown, I speak of a greater, more fundamental change for this nation."

The murmurs grew but the invocation of the Bone Father and the implication of a divine mandate for this change kept it contained. Whilst, most were new converts, they had all seen the Supreme One's power. It had liberated them from slavery. Thus if this was their god's will, many, at least Neia and Drau hoped, would accept it.

"In the coming months, Skelkor will transition from an empire ruled by the few to a nation ruled by its people. It is this transition that I will oversee as your Empress. I shall however not overstay my welcome and once the institutions for the new republic are in place, I shall abdicate."

This was met with cries of fear and dismay from the masses.

"But do not fear people of Skelkor," Drau said confidently, using her natural charisma to silence the crowds. "For by the time I depart, Skelkor shall be a formal protectorate of Nazarick and protected by its gods. And should there ever be a need I shall always be only a **Gate** away."

This seemed to mollify the crowds somewhat, which Neia was grateful for. It was the fear for their safety in the event that Drau left that was likely the one stumbling block of the transition. However, it looked like the promise of Nazarick's protection had calmed those concerns. At least if the crowd here was any indication.

"I tell you all this now at my coronation, my dear people of Skelkor, so that you might know what to expect in the coming months. That you would not be surprised. Know though that I will be with you throughout it all. That so long as I wear the Wrymcrown, I am _your_ Empress and you are _my_ people. Together, Skelkor, we will forge this new destiny our god has mapped for us and make it great!"

Neia's plants in the crowd led the cheers at this she could see, but soon the applause and cheers became organic. A fact that brought a smile to both Neia's and Drau's faces.

_That went well._ The Pope of the Church of Ainz Ooal Gown thought as she clapped along with the masses for Skelkor's new Empress.

* * *

A few days after the coronation and the obligatory feasting that followed, Neia was walking with Renner, Kelart and Ninoninya through the vast construction site that was to be Marangor's new temple district to the gods of Nazarick. All around them undead laborers of all types did the tiring hard labor such as carrying heavy loads while living devotees to the gods did the fine work such as carving reliefs.

"Nice compromise on the division of labor," Neia noted. "It was a good suggestion on your part Renner."

"Thank you, my Lady." The ball gown wearing Momon said with a curtsy. "I merely felt this was the most efficient use of manpower is all."

"If that were the only consideration then the undead would do everything." Kelart countered. "The dull skeletons and zombies might not be able to handle fine work, but other types certainly could and more efficiently than the living ever could. No, you reserved them for the living so that they could have a way to express their devotion as well, didn't you?"

Renner just offered a coy smile.

"You truly are a genius, Lady Renner."

"Thank you for the compliment, Magepriest Veryon."

"My Ladies!" A nervous looking Halfling said as he ran up to the group of women. "Trouble! There's trouble!"

The women exchanged looks. What did he mean by trouble?

"Lead the way, good sir." Neia told the man and without so much as catching a breath, he sprinted back the direction he came.

The women exchanged another round of looks, but nevertheless followed after him.

It didn't take them long to reach the trouble that he spoke of and found a gang of Marangor natives, identifiable by the roughspun fabric of their clothes that contrasted hugely with the higher quality clothes of even the lowliest of the people that made up the liberating army and their camp followers wore. They were throwing insults and the occasional object at a pair of stoic Death Knights that were blocking their path into the temple district worksite even as a small group of the laborers tried to reason with them from behind the two undead.

"Get out of our city, you murderers!" One of the locals shouted, throwing a stone that bounced off the tower shield of one of the Death Knights.

"What is going on here?" Neia demanded as she made it to the commotion, her people parting to let her through so she could stand in between the two Death Knights.

"What's going on is we want you murdering scoundrels out of our city!" A well built Human that seemed to be the crowd's spokesman said as he got into Neia's personal space and loomed over her.

_I hate being so short._ The Sacred Archer thought absently as she looked up to glare at the man. Her eyes had on more than one once been described as terrifying, it was why she usually wore the visor that amplified her accuracy down even when not shooting but she did not on this occasion. To this man's credit however, he did not flinch at her gaze.

"Why do you call us murderers?" Neia asked calmly.

"You flatten most of our city, destroying our homes and killing many of our friends and family in the process, yet still have the gall to ask us that?"

"Collateral damage is unavoidable in war."

"Is that what you call our dead? Collateral damage?"

"Yes," Neia said bluntly. Her faith did not believe in sugar coating anything and as its Pope it behooved her to live out that tenet.

"Why you!" The man said raising his arm to strike her.

Neia didn't react, she didn't need to. Fast as a snake, Renner's delicate looking hand had shot out from behind her and grabbed the fool's wrist.

"You will not touch my Lady." The Momon said coldly, her usual playful air gone and replaced with deadly purpose.

The man seemed to finally grow a brain and pulled his hand away. Or more precisely Renner let him. A Momon's strength far surpassed a Human's and if she hadn't released him, there was no way he'd have managed to escape her grip.

"Might makes right, huh?" The man spat in disgust.

"No," Neia said with a shake of her head. "Merely that might should be used to fight for what is right. And what is right in this situation is that you are ungrateful fools."

"You dare-"

"Shut up!" Neia barked with the power of an Evangelist, causing the man's mouth to snap shut with an audible click as his teeth slammed into each other.

"You were slaves." Neia began, turning her attention away from the silenced fool. "Your lives were entirely in the hands of the Dragons. We changed that. We liberated you. Gave your lives back. We used our might for that."

A large chunk of the crowd shifted uneasily at this reminder.

"And yet here you are being ungrateful. To us, your liberators. And to our gods, who ordered your liberation, who empowered us with the strength to liberate you."

At this many in the crowd grew shamefaced and some even began to walk away, looking chastised.

"No change, especially one caused by an exercise of might like _your_ liberation, comes without cost!" Neia shouted at the crowd as she glared at them. "So I ask you, was that cost worth it? Is your freedom worth it?"

The crowds of locals, many weeping now as they were reminded by her words and the accompanying skills of their feelings of newfound freedom, began to disperse.

Soon it was only their spokesman left and Neia turned to look at him.

"Are you still here?"

The man shot her a defiant look but she just raised an eyebrow.

"Go home." She ordered with her skills and in spite of his wishes, he was forced to obey.

"You handled them marvelously, my Lady." Renner complimented.

"Yes, Lady Neia, that was most well done." Kelart chimed in with her own praise.

"You're scary good at speeches, my Lady." Magepriest Veryon said. "Guess that comes from being an Evangelist, huh?"

"It does," Neia said absently as she watched the mob's spokesman disappear in the distance

"You want me to deal with him, my Lady?"

Neia knew full well what her sadistic adjutant meant. If she got her hands on that man, she'd end him. Slowly.

"No, we'd only make him a martyr." Neia said with a shake of her head. "But arrange for him to be watched just in case. If he tries anything, _then_ deal with him."

"As you command," Renner said with a grin.

"And tighten security in the city, especially around the temple district."

"Of course, my Lady." Kelart nodded. "I'll double the guards on patrol immediately."

"Good, then let's get back to our tour. We can't let disruptions like this derail our efforts."

* * *

While Neia handled the construction of temples for the gods of Nazarick, Taana and Gaul had chosen to supervise the teams taking stock of Gauwervyndhal's hoard vaults below the city. A task that at the moment they were taking a break from while having some tea.

"She is very capable isn't she?" Gaul noted as he gestured at Arche who was standing in the heart of the command center in Marangor's subterranean levels they'd set up to oversee the operation. "She's essentially doing our jobs for us."

"All our adjutants in the war were exemplary. It was why they were assigned to us in the first place." Taana countered. "Besides, they're supposed to be the first generation of administrators of the new republic once we leave, aren't they? Of course they'll need to be good at what they did."

"True," Gaul agreed with a nod. "Though that Renner woman worries me. Have you heard about what she's doing to maintain order?"

"The spy network and raids at the first sign of dissident activity? Yeah, I have."

"Not bothered by it?"

"Should I be?" Taana asked with a raised eyebrow and a small burst of the static electricity that now always covered her body since she'd unlocked the Lightning Savant job class using the experience she'd gained during the Battle of Marangor.

"I thought you might be. It's quite draconian."

Taana rolled her eyes. "I'm long past worrying about things like that. I know that sometimes things just _must_ be done to achieve the kind of good we're after."

"Just checking, little sister." Gaul teased and Taana huffed in irritation, which caused the necromancer to chuckle lightly.

They descended into silence for a few minutes after that as they both enjoyed their tea.

"So I heard from Neia that thanks to the changeover to the YGGDRASIL system you've got around the curse of the Tome?"

"Part of it anyways." Taana admitted. "You remember how it works right? How it makes it impossible for me to read anything but it?"

Gaul nodded.

"Well, that meant I couldn't really learn any spells outside of it which meant that except for **Haste** and **Mage Armor** , **Stone Body** and **Iron body** I didn't have any enhancement spells."

"What changed?"

"Well, the fact that under the YGGDRASIL system so long as I can cast a spell, it gets added to my repertoire permanently rather than me having to refresh a spell slot by reading up on it or practicing with something enough until I could turn it into a cantrip." Taana explained. "So using the experience I had transcribing from the Tome of Runes to recreate Master Falgrim's Runic Compendium, I memorized the forms of a number of basic spells, had Arche guide me through casting them, and thus added them to my repertoire."

"Which spells?"

"Nothing major. I doubt the trick will work for anything complex since they need a ton of mental components that I don't think any amount of secondhand guidance will help with."

"Just give me the names already." Gaul growled irritability and Taana smirked.

" **Bull's Strength** , **Bear's Endurance** and **Cat's Grace**."

"Didn't bother with **Eagle's Splendor** , **Fox's Cunning** , or **Owl's Wisdom**?"

"Nah," Taana shook her head. "I don't really use the stats they enhance all that much in a fight if at all and outside of it I'd really rather train things up on my own instead of relying on a boost from a spell."

"Fair enough," Gaul allowed. "Though I'm curious about something."

"What?" Taana asked, wary of Gaul's mischievous tone.

"The Arche girl has been helping you with a lot of things hasn't she?"

Taana nodded, even as her frustration built. She had a good idea where this was going and was frankly tired of dealing with this. Her agitation taking physical form in the way the static around her body began arcing more prominently than normal.

"So how close are you two exactly."

"We are _not_ lovers if that's what you're asking."

"I know that." Gaul told her with a snort. "I'm asking if you like her enough to either stay in Skelkor with her or invite her to join the party."

"The former is not an option," Taana told him seriously. "I'm not leaving the party. And Arche would never agree to the latter. She's a very dutiful person and she has already got a posting lined up in Skelkor once the transition to a republic is complete."

"Really? That's fast. What is it?"

"She works fast." Taana told him with a shrug. "Apparently she's going to take a teaching position in the new college of magic they're planning to open up here in Marangor.

Gaul hummed interestedly at that. "How interesting. I'd like a chance to visit the college the next time we're in Skelkor."

"Speaking of visiting, any ideas where we should go next? I know it'll have to be a joint decision but I would like to suggest something but I can't think of anything good."

"No, just not anywhere in Laerakond. We'll be too famous as the liberators of Skelkor to get any good adventuring done here."

"Where else can we could go though?"

"The merchants should know." Gaul suggested with a shrug. "Some of them are known to trade with other continents after all."

"That makes sense." Taana agreed with a nod. "I'll go ask around later."

* * *

After a hard day's work overseeing the organization of Marangor's new militia, Yorha and Kuro were enjoying a drink in one of the city's few surviving taverns. The Roaring Red was the stereotypical tavern and was completely lacking in anything that made it noteworthy, however with less than a dozen pubs still in operation after the liberation it was drawing in a huge crowd. Nevertheless, as commanders of the liberating army, the two had no trouble at all securing a booth in the back all to themselves.

"I'm still struggling to understand why you're doing this." Yorha told the Slime honestly as they slipped into the booth, he having assumed his favored purple skinned Human form.

"What's there not to understand?" Kuro replied as their drinks were delivered and they both offered their thanks for the prompt delivery. "I have the memory of drinking alcohol before but I've never actually done so myself. I just want to try it out."

"But alcohol has no effect on you." She pointed out as she watched him use his Illithid derived telekinesis to carefully levitate his mug to match the movement of his arm as he 'lifted' it to his lips. "Look at the pretense you need to put up just to seem to drink normally. Is it worth it?"

"It's the experience I'm after." Kuro reminded her. "Besides isn't one's first drink something of a rite of passage into adulthood for many cultures?"

"Are you trying to be more adult then?" Yorha accused him teasingly.

"Better than being seen as a child." Kuro shot back with a cheeky grin.

"Speaking of children, ever thought of having some?" Yorha asked with what she hoped was idle curiosity.

"No, never." Kuro said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "One of the failsafes that my Illithid creators built into me was an inability on my part to fission like a normal Slime."

"Just humor me will you?" Yorha pressed. "If you could, would you like children?"

Kuro shrugged nonchalantly. "As I've said I've never thought about it, but if I could? Then certainly. I think few with the ability to do so would choose not to."

"I do too, you know." Yorha said looking at him meaningfully. "Want children I mean. If I asked, would you help me with that?"

Kuro raised an eyebrow. "Can Automatons have children?"

"I just asked for help didn't I?" Yorha said with a coy smile.

Kuro laughed. "I suppose we could build one couldn't we?"

"We could." Yorha agreed, a happy smile spreading across her face. "So you'd help?"

"Sure, I don't see why not." Kuro said easily. "You know I'd do anything for you."

"I know." Yorha agreed. She knew full well how devoted Kuro was to her. It was why she was approaching him over the others in the first place.

"Enough teasing." Kuro said as he took another swig of his beer. "Let's talk about something else."

"Sure," Yorha said easily. She'd gotten her promise already anyways.

Their conversation drifted to more mundane topics then and they enjoyed a pleasant time in the pub for the next couple hours.

* * *

At the end of the night as they returned to the tent in the army encampment they had been using as their quarters. They had offered housing in the surviving buildings in the city but had refused out of a desire to remain with their troops.

It was a quiet night and as Yorha put away her equipment for the night, there was nothing but the sound of the two of them filling the quiet of their tent.

"Kuro?" She said as she removed her Dragonhide buckler, the last of her accessories. "At the pub, you promised to help me with something. Do you remember?"

"I did? Not really, I'm sorry." Kuro admitted from atop the boulder where he sat and was surrounded by the haze of gas created by his corrosive nature eating away at the rock. "But whatever it is, I'm happy to help."

Yorha smirked at his easy acceptance and proceeded to strip off her clothes, putting them aside.

_I wonder if he's noticed I'm not only stripped off_ all _my clothes but that I'm putting it aside not just cleaning them like I usually would when I take them off._

If he did, he did not give any sign and she spoke to him as nonchalantly as she could, "I want you to help me become a mother."

Kuro sputtered incomprehensibly for a moment, which Yorha found cute. He was fine with her stripping naked in front of him but asking him to do the deed, as it were, and he loses his composure? Adorable.

"What are you talking about, Yorha!?" He managed at long last.

"You remember that I'm a Pleasure Doll?" Yorha asked as she finished folding and putting the last of her undergarments aside.

"Y-Yes."

Spinning around so her full nude body was on display for the Slime, Yorha continued. "Well, one of the unique aspects of my particular model is that we have an artificial womb. One that can produce offspring using genetic material inputted into the system."

"And?"

"And," Yorha said walking towards Kuro in a sensuous stride programmed into her very being. "I would like to try that system out."

Kuro breathed a sigh of relief. "So you only need genetic material? How do you need to go about gathering that?"

_The silly man still doesn't get it._

Yorha picked him up and hugged him close to her breasts.

"Sex." She told him in what she knew to be a seductive whisper. "I _am_ a Pleasure Doll after all."

Kuro started sputtering all over again.

_Adorable. He's just adorable._

Yorha pulled him away from her and offered him her best pout, "You're not willing to help?"

He froze and then squirmed. "Put me down, I need space to transform."

Smirking at having gotten what she wanted, Yorha dropped her would be lover and watched as he transformed into his favored purple skinned, levitating human form but now sans the simple tunic and breeches he usually dressed it in.

The sight of the form's phallus reminded Yorha that it would be going inside her and she suddenly felt nervous but she steeled herself.

_This is what I wanted._ She told herself as she reached forward and took the member into her hands, even as she began moving her body closer.

"Not so fast," Kuro said, grabbing her hands. "I've got more 'experience' as it were with this. Let me take the lead."

Yorha blushed but nodded and let Kuro gently move her hands away from him and use his grip on them to push her to the ground.

"The bed-"

"I'd melt it away." Kuro told her as he leaned over her. "Now, are you sure?"

Yorha's reply was to pull her hands from his, cup his head and pull him into a kiss.

The first of many kisses and many other things besides that they shared that night. A night that left Yorha feeling very satisfied indeed.

* * *

A few months later, Drau stood inside the newly constructed National Assembly building as she formally signed the document for her abdication of the Wyrmcrown. As she lifted the pen from the paper, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face at finally being free from its weight.

_Well almost free._ She corrected herself as she stood and using both hands she lifted the crown off her head and ceremoniously placed it on the cushion that Fluder held.

"With this," Drau declared for the cameras broadcasting the event across Skelkor. "I, Draudillon Oriculus, formally relinquish the Wyrmcrown and all claims to the throne of Skelkor and hand over all authority over the nation to the Skelkor Republic's President, his cabinet, and the members of its National Assembly."

This was met with immediate applause from the gathered National Assemblymen, even as Drau offered a polite bow to the Dragonborn, Belxan Kiltanuules, that had been elected as the Republic's first President in the national elections last month.

_At last it's over!_ Drau thought with relief as she stood back and the ceremony that marked the founding of the Skelkor Republic continued with Belxan Kiltanuules' swearing in.

* * *

A few hours later and the ceremony was finally over and the festivities had transitioned into a feast. One that Drau was forced to navigate in the red, corseted long ball gown that she'd been saddled with for the abdication ceremony.

_If I ever needed a reason for me to abdicate then just that doing so meant I could stop wearing gowns like this all the time is more than enough._ Drau thought with a burst of annoyance as she surveyed the crowds for her party. _They were pretty enough and surprisingly comfortable, and I wouldn't mind wearing them once in a while. But not_ all the time _!_

That and pretty or not, she'd come to loathe them if for no other reason than they symbolized how she was still stuck in Skelkor!

She was pulled from her musings when she spotted Yorha standing by a pillar with both Kuro and another strange Slime creature riding on her shoulders while the party cooed over the new creature.

"What is _that_?" Drau asked as she walked over, pointing at the new creature.

"This is Grimfal," Yorha said as she gently lifted the Slime up for Drau to get a closer look. "He's my son. I gave birth to him just this morning."

"Son!?" Drau asked incredulously. "Since when were you even pregnant?"

That Yorha could birth a child was no surprise to Drau. She knew full well the capabilities of the Pleasure Doll race. What she was shaken by was that her sister had gone through an entire pregnancy without her noticing.

"I only _finally_ conceived about a week ago. Kuro's genes were difficult for my womb to process." Yorha told her eagerly, too eagerly. "I would've told you about it but you were busy with everything. So this is the first chance to show off Grimfal. Isn't he cute?"

"Adorable." Drau said, rattled by Yorha's case of verbal diarrhea but not so much that she couldn't shoot an accusing look at the baby's father.

"Yorha asked me to."

"You didn't need much convincing." Yorha said with a cheeky grin.

"Neia?"

"Yes?" The Paladin asked, sounding confused by why she was being addressed.

"Has Yorha been replaced by a Doppelgänger?"

"No, she's just riding out the high of being a new mother I think."

_Father, please let that be true._

All she got in reply was a chuckle from her divine Father.

"Oh, stop worrying so much Drau." Taana said with a grin. "Can't you see how adorable Grimfal is?"

Drau looked at the strange chimeric creature. It was as large as a medium sized dog that had the body of a dragon hatchling which was made out of translucent slime similar to that of a Gelatinous Cube and a head that looked menacingly similar to that of a Brainstealer Dragon. It had no mouth and instead had a host of tentacles akin to an Illithid where its maw should have been and a pair of Drow-like pointed ears.

It should have appeared horrific to her, being a mishmash of various quite unpleasant creatures but it was her nephew. In light of that of that what else could she say but, "He's perfect."

"So while Drau takes her turn cooing at the baby, Yorha, mind explaining the name?"

Drau would have refuted her necromancer brother's statement but that would have been a lie, so she just ignored him and kept patting little Grimfal's head and laughing at his attempts to use his tentacles to catch her hand.

"Shouldn't it be obvious Gaul, it's in remembrance and honor of our fallen brother Falgrim."

"Thanks for that Yorha," Taana said with a watery grin. "I'm sure Master appreciates the gesture."

"I'm sure he does, Taana. I'm sure he does." Neia assured her.

"So quick question that has nothing to do with the baby." Kuro asked suddenly.

"What is it?" Drau pulled herself away from Grimfal long enough to ask.

"Well, just, what are we going to do now that our job in Skelkor is done?"

Everyone exchanged looks. It was a question they'd all probably considered on and off for some time now, but Drau doubted any of them had an answer.

"I have a suggestion," Taana said, much to the Dragon's surprise. "I've asked some merchants about places that might be interesting to explore and I think Faerûn might be a good place to start."

* * *

Momonga watched through the Mirror of Remote Viewing as his children all gathered around cooing at his first grandson and he felt a desire to join them, but quickly dismissed the idea for now. He could visit them later. For now he had work to do, so turning away from the Mirror he looked towards the display of the holographic projector that had been installed inside the desk of his Nazarick office.

"Demiurge, are these the character sheets, I believe the locals call it, for my Chosen?"

"Yes, my Lord." His loyal Devil servant reported. "They have been summarized as you requested."

He had glanced at the original documents on his children and their party that the Devil had compiled and had him balking when they were first presented to him. Each one was a hundred pages long and contained way too much detailed information. How his agents had come to know enough to track Neia and Taana's menstrual cycles and make make noted about the dates when they'd their periods was beyond him. And thank goodness that neither Yorha nor Drau menstruated, or their privacy would've been similarly violated. In response to that, he'd issued a strongly worded reprimand to Demiurge about respecting his children's privacy and to prepare a summarized version of their reports for easier reading.

"Very good, Demiurge." Momonga told the Devil as he began reviewing the character sheets.

He ignored their stats for now, he could review later. For now, he focused on their levels.

_Draudillon Oriculus_

_Starting level: 63 [Racial: 30 -Dragonoid (15) Dragon (10) Primeval Dragon Lord (5)- Job: 33 -Gunner (10) Sniper (5) Fighter (3) Commander (5) Shapeshifter (10)-]_

_Current level: 91 [Racial: 30 -Dragonoid (15) Dragon (10) Primeval Dragon Lord (5)- Job: 61 -Gunner (10) Sniper (5) Fighter (15) Commander (5) Shapeshifter (10) Craftsman (9) Armor Smith (7)-]_

_She seems to have leveled up her Fighter class quite a bit from her combat experience. Her craft skills have leveled up too from her use of her omnitool to craft goods and from maintaining her armor._ Ainz mused as he read the data over. _Overall, she's grown thirty levels and moved into the 90s. Based on how we know YGGDRASIL levels compare to the locals, that should put her above all but the strongest non-divine beings in all of Realmspace._

_Pretty good job there, daughter._ Momonga thought with a smile as he toggled the display to bring up the next sheet.

_Youthful Recreation Of Humanform Android (YORHA) Bodyguard Type Serial 979787234 (commonly known as Yorha)_

_Starting Level: 57 [Racial: 13 -Automaton (3) Wardroid (5) Pleasure Doll (5)- Job: 44 -Sword Saint (4) Fighter (15) Sword Dancer (15) Sword Master (10)-]_

_Current Level: 88 [Racial: 30 -Automaton (15) Wardroid (9) Pleasure Doll (6)- Job: 58 -Sword Saint (5) Fighter (15) Sword Dancer (15) Sword Master (10) Mother (1) Commander (5) Guardian (7)-]_

_She picked up Guardian from being the party's tank I imagine. Commander is form being a commander in the war, it's pretty low though. Which isn't too surprising, she didn't really do much generalship. And the Mother is just obvious. The racial classes though… Hmm… I suppose her immunity to Kuro's corrosiveness was the main factor for the increased levels in Automation? Wardroid must then be due to the use of her robotic capabilities in combat and the level of Pleasure Doll must come from her sexual activity with Kuro. That reminds me, I have to have a word with that Slime. If Yorha's siblings aren't going to give him a Shovel Talk, then I certainly will._

Momonga made a mental note to himself to schedule a visit with Kuro as he moved onto Neia's sheet.

Neia Baraja

_Starting Level: 48 [Racial: N.A. (Human)- Job: 48 - Paladin (15) Shooter (15) Sacred Archer (10) Evangelist (3) Founder (1) Saint (1) Sniper (3) -]_

_Current Level: 83 [Racial: N.A. (Human)- Job: 83 - Paladin (15) Shooter (15) Sacred Archer (10) Evangelist (10) Founder (5) Saint (10) Sniper (10) Bishop (8)-]_

_Her preaching has certainly raised her levels in Evangelist, Founder and Saint substantially hasn't it? The Sniper levels she got from combat but what about the Bishop? Hmm…_

With a few taps of the projector's controls, Momonga brought up the timestamps for when she earned those levels.

_She got them for being a religious and military leader to her troops in the Skelkor war at the same time? I suppose that fits one definition of a Bishop._ _Though the rest seems to be from her time helping the wounded. That's more understandable. Still, the things that lets one gain experience to level up sure can be strange in this world._

Momonga chuckled at that and moved to the next sheet.

_Gauldoth Half-Dead_

_Starting Level: 52 [Racial: 2 -Undead (1) Ghoul (1) (Human)- Job: 50 -Necromancer (10) Master of Death (10) Wizard (15) Sorcerer (10) Illusionist (2) Academic Wizard (3)-]_

Momonga smiled as he looked at the racial classes. It should have been impossible to give a humanoid racial classes under the YGGDRASIL system but Ainz had forced it through as a means to give Gauldoth his unique condition. Though admittedly it had been more to just experiment how far he could bend the system than anything else. That however did not detract from the pride he felt at the achievement.

_Current Level: 78 [Racial: 2 -Undead (1) Ghoul (1) (Human)- Job: 76 -Necromancer (10) Master of Death (10) Wizard (15) Sorcerer (10) Illusionist (2) Academic Wizard (9) Armored Mage (10) Commander (10)-]_

_So I can reason that he leveled Academic Wizard by studying the ruins he and his party created? Yes, the timestamps tally up. As for Armored Mage and Commander, it's not too hard figure out where the levels there came from. He's a little low level overall though, probably because he tends to let his minions do the fighting for him and that meant he gained less experience._

"My Lord, those are all the sheets for your avatars-"

"Show me those of their partymates as well." Momonga said interrupting Demiurge. "I wish to see the strengths of those who my children call family."

"As you command, my Lord. I must warn you beforehand however that the data is likely to be jumbled at best. We have yet to formulate a good way to translate the levels that the people of Toril measure things into our YGGDRASIL based metrics."

"I understand. Show them to me nonetheless."

"At once, my Lord."

_Kuro_

_Current Level: ? [Racial: ? -Blacklight Slime (?)- Job: ? -Shapeshifter (?) Psion (?) Father (?)-]_

_Special Note: Kuro's levels and even classes, are variable based on the form or combination thereof that he is copying at any given time. The above is merely a representation of his baseline levels and classes._

_Not much I can tell from this. Then again I did not expect much more than his entry. Moving on._

_Grimfal_

_Current Level: 1 [Racial: 1 -Slime Dragon Wyrmling (1)- Job: 0]_

"I suppose my cute little grandchild is still only a newborn, it'll take time, even for one of my descent, to grow to be a powerhouse." Momonga said, mostly as a joke than anything else though the look Demiurge shot him told him that the Devil thought it was words of wisdom.

_Argh! Why do they do that with_ everything _I say. It gets old quickly dammit. Especially since it means I have to be careful with everything I say._

Knowing he would get nowhere if he tried to correct the Devil's misconception however Momonga simply ignored it and toggled the display to the next sheet.

_Taana Baryn Zyfyn_

_Current Level: ? [Racial: N.A. (Shadar-Kai)- Job: ? -Wizard (?) Lightning Savant (?) Runesmith (?) Fighter (?) Runic Knight (?) Paladin (2)-]_

_So she has levels in Paladin for serving me. Hmm… Considering how limited her use of Runes are, I imagine her levels in Runesmith and Runic Knight are minimal at best. Quite a waste to keep them at all, but I can understand the sentimentality that drove her to do so. Overall though, she has proven herself quite the able servant and trustworthy companion for my children. That's all that really matters._

"Demiurge, do we have data on Kuro and Taana as they were when they first met my children?"

"I'm afraid not, my Lord. At least not at this time. These measurements were produced through careful study of their demonstrated abilities. We shall however work hard to produce them for your comparison as soon as possible."

"Take your time, it is just a curiosity on my part." Momonga said steepling his fingers in front of his face. "More importantly, it seems the experiment to see if we can gain experience and levels using the YGGDRASIL system in this new world has been an unqualified success."

"As you undoubtedly knew it would, my Lord." Demiurge praised. "Truly you foresight is astounding."

"It was no foresight." Momonga countered. "Merely common sense. We are not too different from the locals. If they can gain levels, then surely we could too."

"You downplay your genius as always, my Lord." Demiurge said fawningly. "Truly your humility knows no bounds."

_There he goes again._ Momonga thought with exasperation.

Unwilling to attempt another futile attempt to convince the Devil of his own fallibility, Momonga changed the subject.

"What does surprise me is the fact that those locals who have converted to the YGGDRASIL system like Taana seem perfectly able to access their old spells and skills without any complications. A welcome outcome but unexpected nonetheless."

"Yes," Demiurge said with a nod. "By the time Lady Taana decided to undergo the conversion, we had already had time to beta-test everything with the Priests of Sebas and managed to iron out any kinks that might arise."

"True enough," Momonga admitted. "But those were few and far between anyways, for which we were lucky. Though, speaking of beta tests-"

The Overlord trailed off meaningfully and the genius Devil quickly provided the answer to his unfinished question.

"Everything is ready for Lady Taana, my Lord." Demiurge reassured him. "She'll serve as a fine beta tester for our newly developed soul runes. And, of course, measures are in place should mishaps occur."

Soul runes were runes developed by Demiurge that were etched into a subject's soul and unlike normal runes did not become inert after they ran out of charges. Instead they slowly drew energy from their host's soul itself to recharge over time.

"Remember Demiurge, no permanent harm must come to her or my children from this experiment or I will be _most_ upset." Momonga warned, shooting the Devil a sharp look. "But if you are sure that you are ready, then you have my permission to approach Taana to ask for her consent to carry out the procedure."

He personally didn't see the need for Taana to carry out the procedure at all yet he had illusions over whether she'd agree. The opportunity to etch her Master's legacy into her soul? She'd kill for the chance. Even if he doubted the girl would use the runes often.

"All is ready, I swear it on your name Lord Momonga." Demiurge reassured him with an oath which was considered practically sacred by all of Nazarick. "The procedure will be complete and Lady Taana ready to depart with the rest of your Chosen when they set off for Faerûn."

Momonga continued looking at Demiurge sternly for a moment to make him sweat a little and remind him of the seriousness of what he was undertaking before finally nodding.

Ignoring the Devil's sigh of relief, the undead primordial turned his attention towards the Mirror of Remote Viewing once more which was showing an image of his children and their family as they planned their trip to Faerûn.

_How I wish I could join you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> That's it for this 'book' folks. Next chapter will be the first chapter of the climactic 'book' of this story, hopefully I'll see you there.
> 
> So Yorha and Kuro did the deed and even got a kid out of it. I tried to create some chemistry between them to set this up for some time now but I'm unsure if I did it well. Do let me know in a review if I did okay. On that note, I do want to say that Yorha is a lot less in love with Kuro than he is with her. She mainly did what she did to have a child. She wanted to see what it was like. This was why in this chapter, she considered, if only for a second, going to one of the other party members and asking them to be the father of her child. That said, she does have the strongest romantic attachment to Kuro even if she can't quite call it love.
> 
> On another note, why did I include the soul runes if Taana is noted by Ainz/Momonga to likely not use them often. Well, it's a nod to the character sheet that her creator, my former beta AllForFire, made for her. As I actually wrote out the story, her having runes just didn't fit so they got sidelined but in respect for the character he created I'm keeping her abilities mostly as we discussed and agreed upon. It might make things odd but I think keeping faith with him even if he's no longer working on the project is more important, especially when I can minimize the former.
> 
> Beyond that point, I don't really have much to say about this chapter so till the next one ardievas!


	32. Dusk War 1: End of the Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Dusk War**

**Chapter 1: End of the Beginning**

**Beta:**

* * *

The humanoid white void that was Nameless sat at a wrought iron table in the expansive gardens of the Witch's House across from Lord Ao in his guise as a tall man who was neither young nor old with a visage that lacked any remarkable features save for a white beard and hair. The Overgod of the Forgotten Realms was dressed in a black robe dotted by millions of stars and moons, arranged in a not-quite-perceptible pattern but which had a beautiful and harmonious feel. Seated to Nameless' right was the House's mistress and their hostess, Ellen. She wore the shape of a beautiful aristocrat with long purple hair, feline gold eyes and was sporting a knit top and plaid strapped dress. Across from her sat a pretty little five year old with straight waist length brunette hair wearing a simple white sundress and clutching a stuffed penguin.

"You're needlessly dragging this out Nameless," the Outsider in the shape of a little girl scolded as she sipped daintily from her cup of tea. "This Ainz Ooal Gown fellow could have become one of us ages ago."

"Maybe, Blakelord." Nameless allowed. "But I'd rather let him slowly grow into his role."

"Yet you have not refrained from tampering in his affairs to make things more amusing for you." Ao accused. "It is purely for your own entertainment that you made him accept the advances of his Consorts."

"Guilty as charged." Nameless said offering his fellow Outsiders a cheeky grin.

"I wonder what his response will be when he inevitably finds out about your tampering." Ellen told him with a glare. "I think few would appreciate such blatant manipulation of their love life."

"Considering he'd be celibate if I did not, I think he'll thank me but even if he does make an issue of it I'm not worried." Nameless said with a nonchalant shrug even as he reached over and picked up a cupcake. "Or did you all forget I am an aspect of the Primal Void."

"That does not make you invincible." Blakelord warned him with a glare. "So long as you are an Outsider you are still bound by the authority of the Moderators. Need I remind you of that?"

"Your faction only wields as much power over the rest of us as we let you." Nameless countered defiantly before stuffing the cupcake into his mouth.

"We can argue Nameless' lack of respect for authority another time." Ao said with a sharp look at Blakelord. "Let us focus on the reason for this gathering."

"On that note, let me just say that I have no stake in this matter whatsoever and even I am perturbed by your dilly dallying Nameless." Ellen told him with a frown. "You're not usually so slow in dealing with things."

"And rushing things is better?"

"No." Ao allowed. "But letting the seed become complacent is not desirable either. If he grows too comfortable as what he is, he might not have the will to become greater."

"You're just worried that if he doesn't then you'd have wasted the effort of splintering off an iteration of your precious Forgotten Realms."

Ao moved to say something but Blakelord beat him to it.

"You may be right but it doesn't change the fundamental fact." The Moderator said in an uncharacteristically stern tone for her child like guise. "You need to act quickly before the seed withers."

Both Ellen and Ao nodded at that, causing Nameless to sigh in resignation.

"Fine~!" The void of a man said. "I'll set things in motion that'll force him over the top alright?"

"That is satisfactory." Ao said with a nod.

"Agreed." Blakelord said as she put down her teacup and stood. "Thank you for offering your House as neutral ground for this meeting, Ellen."

"You have my thanks as well, Ellen."

"It was my pleasure." Their hostess said in return to Ao and Blakelord just as they both vanished. Once they were gone, she turned to Nameless. "You're not going?"

"Let me finish my tea at least."

"You're procrastinating."

"So? You're going to kick me out?"

Ellen tilted her head in consideration for a long moment before shrugging.

"Enjoy your tea," she said as she stood and walked off back towards the main building of her estate.

Nameless watched her go as he sipped his tea.

_Now what exactly can I do to push old Ainz over the edge into Outsiderhood? Hmm…_

He ran through a thousand different scenarios in his mind and dismissed all of them as either inadequate or just boring. That is until he hit on one that brought a mischievous smirk to his lips.

_Oh! This one will work! I wonder how the Bone Father will like dealing with his failed predecessor?_

* * *

Unaware of the higher powers scheming to shape his destiny, Ainz sat in the command throne of the flagship of his space fleet, the super dreadnought _Pride of Nazarick,_ as it and its escort fleet of voidships, a mix of traditional Felmidian designs and ironclad spelljammers, descended through Toril's atmosphere.

"Father, might I draw your attention here?" the Pandora's Actor said with a flourish at a viewscreen that presented a view of the _Pride_ 's exterior. "We will break the cloud cover soon."

Normally Ainz would scolded the god of treasure and intrigue for his extravagant theatrics, but for this trip at least he refrained. The fleet they were traveling on was quite an achievement on his creation Pandora's Actor's part and as a reward to the Greater Doppelgänger's efforts, Ainz had decided to cut him some slack at least over the course of this trip.

Besides, the view that appeared on the screen as they breached the clouds was probably deserving of the flourish. Ainz had seen Marangor before, with so many of his worshipers living there his omniscient was perpetually active in the city. However, he had never bothered viewing the city from above. An oversight that he couldn't help but chide himself for as he beheld the beauty of the reconstructed city. It's concentric circular walls had been repaired, thus creating a city of a dozen separate districts separated by their towering edifices. Each district looked as fantastical as the next, one had architectural that would not have been out of place from medieval Europe back on Old Earth while another was modeled after classical Greek designs and yet another after various East Asian ones. This mishmash of fantasy tropes should have come across looking like a mess, but the city's planners had somehow avoided that and managing to meld them together into the appearance of a cosmopolitan metropolis instead.

 _They have done well._ Ainz thought as he admired the view as they continued to descend towards the large square within the outermost walls that served as Marangor's spaceport. _I must remember to reward the various city planners and architects handsomely for a job well done._

"You should." The familiar voice of Nameless said as Ainz suddenly found himself alone with the enigmatic higher being inside a featureless white void.

"Nameless," Ainz greeted the powerful being warily.

"Momonga." Nameless returned. "Or would you prefer Ainz?"

"Ainz please." The undead primordial said curtly. "I would prefer that only those of Nazarick and my inner circle call me Momonga."

"Fair enough." The white humanoid void outlined by an aura of deep darkness said with a shrug. "Congratulations, by the way."

"Congratulations? For what?"

"For that." Nameless said pointing at Ainz's sternum from which between the gaps in Ainz's ribs now suddenly flowed out motes of golden light.

"What is this?" Ainz asked even as he grasped at the motes and realized with a start that it was divine essence. Freshly generated divine essence.

"It's divine essence as you've guessed." Nameless told him with a grin. "Enough of it to create a new divine spark or to promote one of your subordinate gods. Your recent conquests and the millions of followers it's netted you have allowed you to rank up as a divinity, to the point that you're now able to produce it yourself rather than having to take it from other gods."

"Is that why you're here?" Ainz asked suspiciously even as he pulled the leaking divine essence back into himself. He could decide what to do with it later. Right now he had a higher being to deal with. "To congratulate me for this?"

"In part." Nameless told him, his grin turning menacing. "But also to warn you not to rest on your laurels. The hardest trail is coming."

"What do you mean?"

Nameless just wagged a finger in his direction. "Telling you now would be spoilers."

With that the damnable creature burst into a malicious laugh and vanished, taking his void with him.

Ainz immediately found himself back on the _Pride_ 's bridge looking at the bird's eye view of Marangor. His enjoyment of the view was ruined however and it had nothing to do with the emotional suppressor that culled his strong emotions which came with his undead constitution. Nor did it come from the distracting feel of the new divine essence he'd generated.

No, his joy was tarnished by a deep feeling of unease at the ominous implication made by Nameless that some kind of difficult challenge was ahead.

_Whatever is coming, it won't be anything good._

* * *

Ainz was right to be worried. Moments after he had finished visiting Ainz, Nameless appeared in the deepest depths of the Abyss hovering above a swollen, crystalline cyst in reality nearly a mile in diameter that sat on the ethereal substance of the surrounding demiplane that was little more than a sea of boiling energy that occasionally twisted into nightmarish shapes before collapsing back into the main mass of the roiling ocean of raw dark power. This was the prison of the mad god Tharizdun.

"It's not as impressive as I imagined." Nameless commented to himself with a frown. "Then again I suppose my expectations were too high knowing that Ao can be so bloody unimaginative at times."

He stood there observing the prison for a moment longer as if seeking to imprint the sight into his memory forever more.

"Well, enough 'dilly dallying' as Ellen called it." He said at last. "Time to get to work."

With a casual wave of his hand, he unleashed an immense wave of force that smashed the crystalline prison to pieces and sending shards flying. As it shattered, the contents of the structure revealed itself to be a dark, amorphous sludge with a vaguely humanoid shape standing in the center of ooze of indescribable horror that promptly poured out into its surroundings where it immediately proceeded to corrupt everything it touched. Twisting the already heinous form of the dark ocean of energy into something even more abominable and making it more of itself.

Yet even as this vile corruption spread, its sludge like physical form flowed around the humanoid, never once touching it as if even it was fearful of what the man-shaped thing represented.

"Welcome back," Nameless said cheekily as the Chained God Tharizdun and the Voidharrow made their return to Realmspace after countless eons.

He naturally went unheard, lesser beings could after all only perceive him if he allowed it. Thus he received no reply. He did not expect one however and with a satisfied smile at a job well done, he vanished.

 _Time for the show to_ truly _begin._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Short prologue for this last 'book'. Based on my planning, it's going to be a short but hopefully exciting one with long chapters. Hope you guys will enjoy it.
> 
> Till next time nirōpa!


	33. Dusk War 2: First Battles

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Dusk War**

**Chapter 2: First Battles**

**Beta:**

* * *

"What the hell are these things?" Taana asked, as she shot a **Twin, Maximize Magic: Dragon Lightning** through Zwing and sent it flying at one of the leonine shaped abominations that was guarding the portal that she and the rest of her party had been hired by the Lords of Waterdeep to destroy.

"No idea," Drau shouted back as the monster Taana shot exploded into a pool of black sludge that churned with malformed animal and humanoid shapes for a moment before stilling, even as the Dragon took a shot with her sniper rifle and took out another one.

"Whatever they are don't let them touch you." Kuro, in his favored Brainstealer Dragon combat form, reminded everyone as he kept a half dozen of the sludge monsters at bay with his telekinesis. "They corrupt everything they touch."

Taana loosed a spell arrow imbued with a **Call Lightning** spell at one of the vaguely lion shaped things, splattering it, and chanced a glance at the testament to what Kuro meant. When they'd first started the fight, he had lashed out at them with pseudopods, confident in his corrosive power to melt them away like he did everything else. Only to find the strange ability of these monsters to distort everything they made contact with, even air itself, into strange mind melting things to look at extended to his biomass too. Fortunately, he'd quickly detached the affected bits before it could spread but the twisted and distorted remains of the infected biomass still writhed where he'd hastily cut them off, distorting the area around them.

"There is no end to them!" Neia shouted in frustration as she unleashed her **Rain Arrow** skill to take out a pack of the monsters that had just emerged from the portal. "Gaul! Hurry up and seal that portal!"

"I'm working as fast I can!" The armored Wizard shouted back as he cast various counterspells at the portal, steadily but slowly eating away at the magic that kept it open.

This naturally made him a target for the sludge monsters but thankfully he had Yorha and Grimfal to keep him safe. The swordswoman keeping the misshapen leonine beasts at bay with her exquisite swordsmanship and skills whilst her young son supported her by shooting globs of acid at the enemy from his perch on her shoulders.

"There!" Gaul declared at last as the portal finally closed and the tide of sludge monsters coming out of it came to an end.

_Great! That still leaves a hundred of these damned things to take out!_

"Gaul! Neia! Crowd clearers!" Taana shouted at her siblings even as she leapt away from a sludge monster with the body of a weasel and a scorpion's tail and lashed out with Stormslash that was charged with electricity thanks to her **Lightning Strike** spell.

_Great, so they come in different shapes now._ Taana thought with a groan even as her sword cut the stinger off the tail trying to kill her.

" **Triplet, Maximize Magic: Chain Dragon Lightning!"** Gaul incanted, clearly having heard her earlier and sending three powerful bolts of Lung Dragon shaped lightning through the horde of bestial looking sludge monsters, cooking dozens of them.

Not to be outdone, Taana added her own spell to the mix.

" **Twin Magic: Call Lightning Storm!"**

At her invocation, thirty bolts of lightning streaked down from the otherwise clear sky and slammed into the monsters, including the weasel shaped one that was still trying to press its attack despite the loss of its stinger. A lightning bolt fried it, causing it to collapse into the sludge that made it up, along with each of the other monsters she'd targeted.

Neia was last to add her firepower to the mix, but considering she'd had to wait for her skill's cooldown to run its course that was unavoidable.

" **Rain Arrow!"** The Paladin of Ainz Ooal Gown shouted as she sent hundreds of magically conjured arrows falling into the ranks of the remaining monsters.

Thanks to their combined efforts, only a dozen or so monsters remained and the party quickly descended upon them like the wrathful hand of an angry god, which Taana mused they were, and dealt with them in minutes.

"That was intense." Taana noted with a frown as they stood surveying the blighted field where they'd just fought the strange sludge monsters. Once it had been a verdant patch of grassland but now, all life seemed to have been drained from it. It looked like Gaul had cast his **Cry of the Banshee** there but yet somehow worse as there was a lingering sense of wrongness in the air here that even that powerful area of effect instant death spell could not create.

"And that's saying something coming from us." Kuro agreed from where he was cuddling with Grimfal on Yorha's shoulders. "I can't imagine many of the other adventurers the Lords hired being able to deal with something like this."

Drau nodded in agreement. "Which means we must pick up the slack."

"Agreed." Neia said with a nod of her own. "Whatever these things are, they're a threat we cannot ignore."

"I agree." Yorha added her own vote.

"I think we all agree with helping out." Taana said, receiving nods from everyone. "But what should we do?"

"First things first, we need to get in touch with the Lords, see if any of the other parties sent to close portals failed and follow up on their missions."

"And then?" Gaul asked.

"Then?" Drau said with a shrug. "We do whatever we can to fight these things."

* * *

Even as his Chosen fought the strange new aberrations that had invaded Realmspace, Ainz Ooal Gown found himself hosting a large number of Damons, Archomentals and Primordials inside the Nazarick Throne Room. They included such notables as the Obyriths Pazuzu and Pale Night, their fellow Demon Lords Graz'zt, Orcus and Yeenoghu, the Archomentals Ogrémoch, Imix, and Yan-C-Bin, as well as the Primordial Elemental Lords save Kossuth. Though admittedly the latter constituted their own separate group.

"Let me summarize what you all want," the Overlord said after hearing out their varied but similar stories. "You want my aid against Tharizdun and this corruption he's brought with him. What did you say he called it?"

"The Voidharrow," the demon lord Pazuzu, chosen spokesman for the group, supplied. He was a tall and well-proportioned humanoid with avian feet, four wings that both smoked and gleamed with oil, and most notably, a feral bird's beak on an otherwise handsome face. Though said handsome face was now marred by a deep scar that had refused all attempts at healing.

"Yes, the Voidharrow." Ainz said with a nod at the Obyrith in polite thanks. "I can see aiding my allies, the Elemental Lords, in their fight against this invasion."

At this the four present Elemental Lords bowed in gratitude.

"But I must wonder why you Demons expect _me_ to help you. Little more than two years ago, you lot invaded my homeworld just to _destroy_ me." Ainz reminded the Demon Lords, who while too proud to fidget all made clear signs of unease at the way his unhappy gaze settled on them. "Furthermore, is not Tharizdun your ally from the Dawn War? Why side against him now?"

"Tharizdun _was_ our ally and if he was the same being that he was in the Dawn War, he would be still." Pazuzu admitted. "However, whatever happened to him during his imprisonment has changed him. Made him more powerful and more mad, if that was possible."

"We will not lie, Ainz," Akadi cut in, the clouds that made up her humanoid body churning in agitation. "We tried to ally with him once more when we realized he was free, but he brushed us aside and attacked us instead. He killed Kossuth. Used the power of the Voidharrow to smother and corrupt his flames until he ceased to exist."

Ainz frowned at the reminder that one of his greatest allies was already dead at the hands of this new enemy.

_Surely this must be the new challenge that Nameless warned me about._

"It is not just Kossuth," Pazuzu said picking up the tale again. "Obox-ob and Dagon are also dead. Demogorgon and Baphomet are still fighting last we heard, but it is doubtful they will hold out long without assistance. Of the Archomentals-"

"Cryonax and Olhydra are dead." The vaguely humanoid shaped pillar of fire that was Imix said, cutting into Pazuzu's roll call of the dead. "The others, be they, demon, elemental, or primordial, are still fighting, having put their hopes in us to beg for your support in our war against the deceiver who claimed to be thr Elder Elemental Eye. Tharizdun has proven himself an enemy to us all."

"I would imagine so," Ainz said leaning back on the Throne of Kings with a frown. "This Voidharrow he commands is a terrible corrupting contagion unlike anything _any_ of us have ever seen. It is indiscriminate in what it infects and warps anything it touches into more of itself. The Astral Sea, the Elemental Chaos, the Far Realms and everything between, as far as my agents can tell it makes no distinction."

"Exactly, Ainz." Pazuzu said with urgency. "That is why we must unite to face this threat. Especially as its contamination spreads every moment Tharizdun and his legions of abominable horrors is allowed to advance through the Abyss and the Elemental Chaos corrupting everything they touch."

"And why approach me first?"

"You know why." Pazuzu said, sounding frustrated. Considering his reputation for deceit it could be a ruse, but yet the circumstances made it just as likely to be genuine. Either way, Ainz noted that it was quite amusing to watch. "Your mere presence forces reality to conform to your will in defiance of the power of other divinities or preset rules. If anyone can challenge the corrupting influence of Tharizdun and his Voidharrow, it will be you."

"I was under the impression your reality warping powers can counteract his influence as well."

"Not passively like you can." Pazuzu countered with a glare. "It takes much from us to resist its corrupting power, leaving us less able to fight."

Ainz nodded. He was wondering why so many powerful beings had fallen so quickly. If their powers were hamstrung however, it made things more understandable.

"And what will you lot offer me in exchange for my assistance?"

"An oath of non-aggression." The Prince of the Lower Aerial Kingdoms said without hesitation. "It is no secret that you long for peace and quiet. If you help us in this war, we will grant it to you. We will swear to leave you and yours alone after we achieve victory."

That Pazuzu spoke without even needing to consult the others told Ainz they'd already discussed this beforehand. Though the unhappiness that radiated off Orcus as the Dark Angel of the Four Winds spoke, hinted at some dissent. Not that the Overlord cared. Pazuzu was offering him exactly what he wanted and even if they backed out of the deal in time, he would appreciate the breather from their open hostility towards him.

"Very well," Ainz said at last before turning to Albedo who had been standing patiently to his right. "Albedo, contact Cocytus and Demiurge, to prepare-"

He was interrupted when the massive doors to the Throne Room opened slightly as Sebas slipped inside.

"My Lord," the Iron Butler said with a bow. "I apologize for the interruption but the gods the Great Mother and Vergadain have just arrived and seek an audience with you."

_When it rains, it pours._ Ainz thought with a mental sigh.

"I have an idea as to what they want," Ainz declared. "Let them in."

Sebas nodded and opened the doors wider to allow a massive Beholder and a particularly ugly and short but well dressed Dwarf to enter the Throne Room.

"I take it that you two wish to ask for my assistance against Tharizdun and his Voidharrow as well?" Ainz asked, with a pretense of boredom even as the two newly arrived gods looked startled at the presence of so many other divinities already there before them.

"You presume correctly," Vergadain, the Laughing Dwarf, said with a nod.

"And by your presence and that of the Great Mother, then Root Hold must have fallen allowing for the enemy to use its connections to both Dwarfhome and Dismal Caverns."

The Great Mother's many eyes either narrowed in suspicion or shot open in surprise, Vergadain for his part just chuckled. The other divinites for their part falling somewhere in the spectrum in between.

"You lot are lucky then," Ainz said with a grin that did not translate onto his skeletal face. "I was just about to mobilize to combat this threat and would be happy to help you. All I ask is an oath of non-aggression for me and mine in the aftermath of this war. Is that acceptable?"

"You shall have it." The Beholder goddess agreed readily.

"Same." Vergadain nodded. "Save Dwarfhome and I'll do my best to convince the Dwarffather to give you any fair deal you want."

"It is a pleasure doing business with you Merchant King." Ainz said with a pleased chuckle. "Albedo!"

"Yes, Husband?"

"Mobilize our forces. All of them."

"At once, my Lord." His Consort nodded, before she began using **Message** to relay his command.

Leaving her to it, he turned to the still present divinities.

"Now then, I believe we have a war to plan."

* * *

As his Master commanded, Demiurge led an allied army of Demons, Elementals and other servants of the Primordials into battle against the Voidharrow in the corrupted remains of Root Hold.

_What a disgusting place it has become._ The Devil thought as he beheld the plane from a series of conjured images inside the safety of their command center far to the rear of the frontlines.

The place had become completely twisted. Its endless underground tunnels and halls were still there but were so changed that they were unrecognizable. They were now dominated by bizarre non-Euclidean geometry and everything was covered in a thick black sludge that constantly churned, taking strange shapes that sometimes resembled recognizable life forms but more often than not were some indescribable horror. Sometimes these shapes even managed to tear themselves free from the rest of the sludge and become monsters that promptly joined the ranks of its fellows in fighting the allies.

Of all the many battlefields, Demiurge had chosen this one because of its strategic importance. Root Hold was the path by which the enemy was attacking the Astral Sea. Thus if they could retake it then they would cut off the Voidharrow's advance into it entirely and secure it as a safe haven from which to fight from. Even if it found some other route into the Sea then retaking the plane would at least cut off the Voidharrow forces besieging the Dismal Caverns and Dwarfhome. And that was a victory in itself.

"Things are not going well," Vergadain noted, his usually jovial expression twisted into a frown as he, the Great Mother and Demiurge watched the battle.

"We are hard pressed." Demiurge admitted even as an entire army of Demons broke before the advance of a swarm of insectoid looking Voidharrow abominations. "The enemy's ability to weaken our troops' abilities by their mere distorted, corrupting presence is making things difficult."

"You do not sound alarmed." The Beholder goddess said, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What do you have planned?"

Demiurge smirked and pointed to some rather prominent looking Voidharrow beasts.

"I'm sure you noticed this already." The Devil said with a self-deprecating smirk. "But I've just realized that with the destruction of these enemy leaders causes many of the Voidharrow beasts and even the ambient corruption in their area to simply fade from existence. Only the strongest Voidharrow creatures and the densest masses of corruption seem capable of maintaining their presence in Realmspace of their own accord without them but even they do so only in a weakened capacity."

The Great Mother blinked in confusion. Apparently she hadn't noticed. Vergadain had if the frown and shake of his head was any indication.

"Not sure how it'll help us." The Laughing Dwarf said with a shrug. "Those 'leader' types are _very_ difficult to take down. Plus the enemy is keeping them well protected."

"That is if you fight them fairly." Demiurge said with a smirk and snapped his fingers. "Instead, we should simply fight-"

Suddenly the images the gods were watching displayed hundreds of the enemy leaders die from sniper fire.

"Like this," the devil said with a smug grin. "It seems the enemy did not take sufficient precautions against snipers."

"God of cunning and strategy indeed." The Great Mother praised.

With the enemy lines collapsing with the loss of so many of their leaders and their associated forces with them, the allied armies suddenly began surging ahead.

_At this rate the remainder of the campaign in Root Hold will be a breeze._ Demiurge thought, especially since the Voidharrow never seemed to learn and continued to leave their leaders open to their snipers. _Nevertheless clearing a whole plane of their corruption will take time._

"I wonder how the other fronts are doing?" Demiurge wondered idly as he saw yet another Voidharrow leader, this time a massive chimeric behemoth that seemed to meld the best features of a Dragon, Giant and Mammoth into one abominable creature died and took its horde of similarly monstrous creatures with it.

"Hopefully they're doing as well as us." Vergadain said with a hopeful chuckle.

The Great Mother just nodded her huge head.

* * *

Speaking of other fronts, whilst Demiurge continued his cleansing of Root Hold Cocytus stepped onto the charred wasteland of vast ashen plains covered in rubble and the occasional line of foothills and basalt mountains heaped with broken rocks of obsidian and quartz that was Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells of Baator. Behind him marched a vast host of the armies of Felmid including legions of Twisted Warforged that were their newest additions.

"Welcome Cocytus," Asmodeus himself greeted him as he stepped out of the **Gate** that had transported him from Felmid.

"Greetings. Lord. Asmodeus." Cocytus returned politely. "How. Goes. The battle?"

"All business I see," the Supreme Master of the Nine Hells said with a playful smile. "I can appreciate that. Especially considering the circumstances."

"The battle. Goes. Poorly?"

"Not quite." Asmodeus said waving his Ruby Rod and conjuring a tactical display that looked suspiciously similar to those employed by their own forces.

"We have these Voidharrow aberrations contained." The Archfiend said pointing to a large cluster of red markers surrounded by a ring of green ones. "But despite our best efforts we have been unable to root them out of their little foothold."

"Have. You. Identified. Their leaders?" Cocytus asked. "According. To. Information obtained. From. The. Battle of Root Hold. If. We. Kill those. The rest. Will. Be. Easily. Dealt with."

"Is that so?" Asmodeus said as he rubbed a hand against his chin as if in thought. "That sounds convenient."

"Lord Ainz. Thinks. The world. Itself. Rejects. Their unnaturalness." Cocytus relayed his Master's explanation. "They. Thus. Need. Their leaders. To. Act. As anchors. Without. Them-"

"They cannot maintain their presence in our world." The Lord of Nessus said with a nod. "That makes sense."

"Their leaders?" Cocytus pressed.

"Ah, yes." Asmodeus said as he waved his Ruby Rod once more and caused the image to change. "Here they are. The two greatest of them at least."

One of them was a grotesque creature with seven legs that ended with massive taloned feet, each with an eye beneath it and a sword pierced through the knee. It had a large red orb that passed for its body on top of which was perched a triangular shaped head that was dominated by a massive eighth eye.

"We're calling that one Ogdoad."

Cocytus nodded and looked to the other image. This beast was a massive purple scaled Dragon with a golden mask that covered its upper snout, gold tipped claws on its hands and feet, seven pairs of wings and a tail that ended in a fifth three taloned claw. Most striking however was that in its arms, it carried an orb of roiling darkness.

"My people are calling that the Sin Dragon."

"How powerful?"

"Powerful enough that _I_ wouldn't wish to face both of them alone. Especially since just counteracting their ability to distort reality with their sheer presence will take all of our metaphysical power, leaving us limited to only our more mundane abilities."

"They. Will. Be Enough." Cocytus assured. "But. Your Archdevils? They are. Unavailable?"

"Too busy fighting off lesser incursions on their own layers to assist." Asmodeus explained with a shake of his head. "As it stands Zariel was badly wounded taking down one of these aberrations and Tiamat has fled. Only the two of us are available."

"We will. Be. Enough." Cocytus assured the Archfiend.

* * *

Cocytus and Asomedus stood waiting on top of a plateau overlooking the main battlefield down on Avernus' blasted plains and watched as the combined efforts of thousands of magic users managed to capture Ogdoad and the Sin Dragon in a forced teleportation and transport the leaders of the Voidharrow swarm invading the Nine Hells.

"Here they come," Asmodeus warned as both beasts vanished in pillars of light, only to reappear a short distance away from where the two gods stood.

"I'll take the Dragon." The Archfiend declared before he leapt up into the air and began unleashing a storm of magic upon the aberrant Dragon and luring it away from the ground. Soon the two descended into a ranged duel, trading magical attacks on a scale that mortals could only dream of.

Meanwhile, Cocytus rushed forward to engage Ogdoad in melee combat. Something the eight eyed behemoth tried to prevent by revealing that it could shoot deadly beams of corruption or disintegration from its eyes that it tried to use to keep the Vermin Lord back. Cocytus easily evaded the attacks however and was soon under the monster and cutting at its legs.

Unfortunately even God Slaying Emperor Blade, the sharpest of his weapons failed to do more than cut shallow wounds on the massive limbs. Wounds that healed almost as quickly as they were opened.

_Should I draw something else? Something more powerful?_ Cocytus thought as he evaded Ogdoad's attempts to crush him with its feet or blast him with his eye beams. _No. If even God Slaying Emperor Blade cannot cut this beast, then nothing in my arsenal can do it either. I will have to use my skills, not my weapons to best this monster. That and a change of tactics._

" **Acala's Sword."** Cocytus said as he swung his blade, unleashing a burst of golden light that dealt massive damage all over the monster, its huge size allowing the area of effect skill to unload its full firepower onto it despite originally being designed for use against multiple targets.

While it was reeling from the wounds, Cocytus leapt into the air and used **Sword Blitz** to close with the seven eyes on its legs in a blur that resembled a bolt of lightning and cuts them open one by one with God Slaying Emperor Blade. Each cut causing the monster great pain and it to stamp around in furious but futile attempts to crush him with its feet.

Despite this when Cocytus reached the eighth eye, he found that Ogdoad was waiting for him and the moment he went in for the swing he was hit by a powerful energy beam. Thankfully, Asmodeus reacted fast and threw up a complex series of magical barriers that kept him safe and thus Cocytus swung his blade even as the Voidharrow monster's destructive beam tried to wash over him.

The loss of its last eye cut off the beam but Cocytus was taking no chances and leapt off the blinded monster as it stumbled about.

_Still not dead?_ The Vermin Lord thought to himself with a hint of irritation. _I'll have to correct that._

Sprinting forward and avoiding the mad flailing of Ogdoad's feet, Cocytus made his way underneath the monster red orb of a central body before leaping up at it and activating his **Vajrayakṣa Strike** skill. The skill caused God Slaying Emperor Blade to glow a brilliant gold and grant it anti-monster bonuses to its attack power. With these bonuses, Cocytus' formidable skills and power, the odachi easily just pierced through the orb and cut it in two entirely.

Bisected, Ogdoad's body began breaking down into sludge even as it fell to the ground and a quick glance back towards the main battle showed that its death had taken a sizable chunk of the enemy with it.

"Nice timing." Asmodeus shouted suddenly as he slammed the Sin Dragon into the ground just ahead of Cocytus with a pillar of crimson energy straight to the monster's chest, literally shooting through and dispersing the orb of darkness it carried.

"Finish if off for me would you?" the Archfiend asked and Cocytus was only too happy to oblige.

" **Vajrayakṣa Strike!"** The god of warriors and honor said as he activated the monster slaying skill once more and swung God Slaying Emperor Blade, sending a golden wave right through the Sin Dragon that bisected it from head to the tip of its tail.

"Well that's that." Asmodeus declared as he teleported to stand next to Cocytus and they both watched the Sin Dragon's corpse disintegrate. "With their leaders gone, our forces will handily deal with the remnants of the invaders I think."

Cocytus looked to the main battle once more and saw that the Voidharrow's numbers had shrunk tremendously and the combined armies of Baator and Felmid were using that to their advantage to advance. It seemed the Archfiend was correct.

"For. This battle." Cocytus told him with a click of his mandibles. "There. Are, More. To fight. In. This. War."

"Yes, yes, of course." Asmodeus said in a slimy imitation of an apologetic tone. "You'll have the full support of the Nine Hells in this war. We _are_ allies after all."

"On. Behalf of. Lord Ainz. I. Offer. You. His thanks." Cocytus informed the Prince of Evil with a bow.

Much to the annoyance of the Ruler of the Frozen Glacier all this engendered from the Devil was a self-satisfied grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Argh! I was imagining this chapter would be being longer than it ended up being. Oh well! I'm satisfied with it, so I'm leaving it as is.
> 
> Before I go though, here's a visual guide for some of the Voidharrow aberrations:
> 
> Ogdoad = Ogudomon from the Digimon franchise
> 
> Sin Dragon = Lucemon Shadowlord Mode from the Digimon franchise
> 
> Well that's all for now folks. Till next time lamtumirë!


	34. Dusk War 3: Battles on Multiple Fronts

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Dusk War**

**Chapter 3: Battles on Multiple Fronts**

**Beta:**

* * *

_Here they come,_ Ainz thought as he sat on his command throne on the bridge of the _Pride of Nazarick_ as the majority of his space fleet massed in orbit of Glyth to face the incoming Voidharrow swarm.

Said swarm of the virulent aberrations was led by a monstrous Angelic looking creature they'd codenamed Ordine and were invading Realmspace's Material Plane. They had quickly overrun Garden and H'Catha and now threatened Nazarick's fleet base on Glyth.

Ordine itself was a creature with a white feminine humanoid body that was roughly equivalent in size to an adult Human woman, with orange, green, and blue double helix-like appendages in place of hands and feet, and at the end of white appendages that passed for its hair. Its eyes were permanently covered by the aforementioned hair like growths. It had a mouth full of sharp teeth, three pairs of cat ears with orange highlights, large grey wings, each with a blue, pointed appendage, a violet jewel on the left wing, and a cyan jewel on the right wing. This unique appearance made it stand out despite its relatively small size compared to the horrible swarm of twisted Dragons and other aberrant forms of the vacuum capable Voidharrow swarm it lead. That and it's awesome power as it demonstrated when it had single handedly wiped out the large force that the Elven Imperial Fleet had recklessly sent against it at H'Catha, the lost of which had effectively crippled the elves' space fleet entirely.

Now said terrible swarm was approaching them. They were visible in the distance even from where Ainz sat without any need for magnification. There was so many of them and they were so close that they seemed like swirling dark nightmarish mass surrounded by the twisted, distorted space that followed them everywhere they went.

"Enemy entering range of outermost defenses." A Goblin manning the sensors console reported.

Almost immediately, another Goblin manning the tactical station shouted in reply. "Defenses firing."

At his announcement, thousands of weapons fired from their bases in Glyth's fourth ring and even more mines went off. It lit up the void like a fireworks display and more importantly devastated the enemy.

"Third ring defenses opening firing." The Goblin at tactical reported as even more weapons joined the barrage as the enemy came within range.

"Enemy entering range of long ranged weapons." The Goblin at sensors added and turned to look at Ainz expectantly.

"Order all ships to fire."

With a bloodthirsty grin the Dragonborn at comms began relaying his order and moments later, the weapons of Felmid's space fleet joined that of Glyth's static defenses in unleashing their firepower on the Voidharrow. Most of their weapons were still technically outside of effective targeting range but the enemy swarm was so large that there was simply no need for such targeting and so the fleet was capable of unleashing most of their weapons regardless.

"Enemy losses?" Ainz asked, his eyes narrowed worriedly. For despite over a minute of unrelenting fire there seemed to be no appreciable reduction of the density of the enemy swarm.

"12% and climbing. Enemy is engaging Fourth Ring Defenses." The sensors operator reported.

"Second and First Ring Defenses opening fire. Haven, Mingabwe and Polluter Moonbases are opening fire. Glyth Spacebase is opening fire."

 _So everything has opened up at this point._ Ainz thought while looking at the sensor Goblin meaningfully.

"21%." The green skinned short humanoid reported. "Ordine spotted! Its leading a charge."

 _Just as planned._ Ainz noted with a smile.

* * *

_Shalltear._ Her Husband's voice filled Shalltear Bloodfallen's mind via **Message** as she sat in one of the plasma cannon batteries built into the Fourth Ring Defense net. _Ordine has been spotted. We're sending you it's coordinates now. Once you've received them,_ _ **Gate**_ _in and engage._

 _At once, my love._ Shalltear replied as she walked over to the Human comms operator of the small base and tapped his shoulder impatiently.

 _Be careful out there Shalltear._ Lord Ainz told her with barely restrained emotion. _If something were to happen to you-_

 _Nothing will, my love. I promised you that I'll return to you unharmed and I_ will _keep that promise._

 _See that you do, my love._ Lord Ainz said as the spell ended and his mind withdrew from her own.

"The coordinates, my Lady." The Human said as he gestured at the screen of his workstation.

Shalltear just glanced at it for a moment and nodded, using the coordinates as a guide she opened a Gate and summoning her armor and her Spuit Lance, she leapt through. She emerged in the vacuum of space just ahead of the thrust by the Voidharrow. One that was being mauled by fire from their defenses but which was kept going by the creature at its head, Ordine, who shielded enough of its brethren with its massively oversized wings to keep enough of them alive to maintain the advance.

 _Not for long if I can help it._ Shalltear thought as she vectored towards the monster.

" **Implosion!"** She cast, her voice carrying even over the vacuum and causing the Voidharrow Angel's right arm to collapse inward.

The creature shrieked, a sound that like her own spellcasting carried through the emptiness of space, and spun to face Shalltear and spit a beam of corrupting rainbow colored energy from its mouth at her.

The goddess of blood and mayhem easily dodged the attack and sent one of her own at the enemy in reply.

" **Brilliant Radiance!"** Shalltear cast, surrounding the aberration in holy light that burned away at its very unnatural existence.

Again the monstrous Angel roared in pain, but it quickly shook it off and abandoning its position at the head of the Voidharrow charge, it flew towards Shalltear instead.

 _Just as planned._ Shalltear thought with a smirk as she and the Angel exchanged attacks all whilst she drew it further and further away from the rest of its fellows.

At the same time Deathwing and his Dragons, and many metallic Dragons in service to Bahamut that had been unexpectedly sent by their god to assist them shortly before the news of the fall of H'Catha reached them, flew in around behind them intercepting any Voidharrows attempting to join the fight. Normally, most Dragons couldn't just fly or breathe for that matter in the void like this of course but Deathwing was the god of the vacuum, bestowing such a simple boon on the lesser Dragons was child's play.

It was just a little easier than the evasions Shalltear had to make to avoid the lesser Voidharrows that Ordine was shooting at Shalltear out of her wings or the double helix appendages that stretched and weaved through the void like tentacles in a bid to skewer her on their sharp lance like ends.

 _The adds she's summoning are pesky though._ The True Vampire thought as she evaded a squid like thing that had rocketed towards her in a bid to impale her with the spike atop its mantle by graceful twirling out of the way. _Let's even the numbers up, eh?_

" **Summon Household!"** She incanted, invoking one of her skills to summon a whole colony of Elder Vampire Bats and Vampire Bat Swarms, only to discover they couldn't fly in space. As a result, her summons just floated around her uselessly as they futilely flapped their wings.

 _At least they're undead and don't need to breathe?_ Shalltear tried to console herself even as an embarrassed blush flushed her face at her mistake. _Of course they can't fly in vacuum! Didn't I just think Deathwing had to bless his Dragons so they could do it? Wait! I'm managing because I'm a goddess, can't I grant the same power to my bats?_

Before she could give the idea more thought, much less implement it, Ordine's summoned Voidharrow started massacring her bats.

_Argh! That's a lost cause. New plan!_

" **Impure Shockwave Shield!"** She shouted, unleashing a reddish-black wave of force that exploded from her body and cleared the area around her of everything but Ordine who she proceeded to charge at.

The aberration let out a defiant roar despite the smoking wounds caused by her **Impure Shockwave Shield** and opened fire on Shalltear by shooting energy beams out of its mouth and the two jewels embedded in its wings.

"Hah! You still can't hit the broad side of a barn!" Shalltear taunted as she weaved through the beams with effortless grace. That said, she wasn't going to let the attack go unanswered.

" **Purifying Javelin!"**

Raising her free hand in a throwing position, a gigantic lance of the holy energy formed in her waiting palm that she promptly threw at Ordine. Where it stabbed the grotesque imitation of an Angel in the gut and caused it to scream in pain.

It tried to retaliate by lashing out with its tentacles at Shalltear, but the True Vampire would have none of it.

" **Impure Shockwave Shield!"** She shouted, using another of the powerful shockwaves to blast the tentacles into non-existence.

"It's over for you, you ugly parody! **Einherjar!** " Shalltear shouted as she dove in to finish Ordine once and for all. Her newly activated skill causing a ball of white light to coalesce in front of her, which slowly shaped itself into a humanoid form until fully resolving itself into a golem-like duplicate of herself.

 **Einherjar** was arguably her most powerful skill. For although the construct could not use spells or skills, it had the same stats and equipment as she did, which thus allowed her to deal twice the damage as she and her double ran their Spuit Lances right through Ordine's body.

The Voidharrow Angel screamed so loudly and piteously even as it collapsed into the sludge from whence it had been formed that Shalltear almost pitied it. No, that was a lie. The aberration was an enemy of her beloved Lord Ainz and she had no pity for any of those.

"Let's see if killing this damned thing did what we hoped it would." Shalltear said to herself as she turned towards the Voidharrow swarm to see a large portion of it seemingly start disintegrating for no apparent reason.

"Guess it did." The goddess said with a smirk. "I did good, didn't I Husband?"

 _You did brilliantly, Shalltear._ Lord Ainz's perfect voice filled her mind. _Well done._

Shalltear allowed herself a moment to preen at the praise before she took a breath to steady herself and turned towards the still dense but rapidly thinning swarm of enemies.

 _Time to get back to work._ She thought as she shot towards the enemy, her **Einherjar** golem flying by her side.

* * *

Even as Ainz and Shalltear fought the enemy over Glyth, a portal opened unexpectedly on the Kanto Plain and a Voidharrow host poured out of it onto Felmid. Despite the suddenness of the invasion however, the world's forces were prepared and acting with efficiency that would put most beings to shame they rallied to their world's defense.

Thus it was that Victim and Gargantua found themselves staring across the battlefield within the Kanto Defense Zone at a massive three headed Voidharrow creature as big and tall as the god of the stone. The head on the creature's left shoulder resembled a humanoid wearing some kind of blocky helmet over its upper portion but whose exposed lower half was taken over by a mouth ringed by a set of writhing tentacles. The head on the right shoulder sported a long, stout jaw as well as a bony growth that resembled a haloesque crown. The central head looked mostly Human but had a three-pronged jaw from which hung a tongue that was probably as long as it was tall that ended in a massive organic scythe.

"That must be their leader or at least one of them." Gargantua concluded. "Victim, together?"

"Noib, ol zorge. Ca el. (Yes, my friend. As one.)" The floating fetal like Angel replied.

"For Lord Ainz!" Gargantua shouted as he sprinted across the battlefield and tackled the Voidharrow Giant to the ground. All around them lesser Voidharrow moved to swarm over the golem in a bid to aid their counterpart, but precise and unrelenting suppressive fire from the Felmidian defenders kept them off their god and allowed he and the gigantic aberration to continue their fight unmolested.

And that they did, the two massive beings wrestling and for a time looking evenly matched. That is until Victim floated over and added his magic to the contest.

" **Titan's Strength!"** The angelic god of sacrifice cast, enhancing Gargantua's strength greatly and allowing the god of stone to finally overpower his opponent. Whereupon he lifted him over his head and tossed the other giant far away from the other Voidharrow.

Even before the aberrant Giant hit the ground however, Gargantua had broken into a sprint in the direction where he'd thrown him so he was on hand just as it was struggling back to its feet to deliver a powerful right hook that sent it stumbling back to the ground.

"Victim! Bind it!"

"C t! (On it!) **Sacrificial Bind!** " The god of sacrifice shouted, its body exploding into blood and viscera that quickly transformed into crimson chains that wrapped themselves around the Voidharrow Giant before anchoring themselves firmly into the earth.

"Time to die!" Gargantua declared ominously as the Revolver Knuckles he'd built and wore began spinning. "Taste the power of my engineering!"

With that declaration, he punched the aberration hard in the left shoulder which was building up a blob of acid between its tentacles presumably to spit at him. It never got the chance as with the impact of the punch, one of the stored magical effects of the Revolver Knuckles was released and a massive pillar of fire erupted that incinerated the whole shoulder, the head growing out of it included.

The Voidharrow monster cried out in what sounded like agony at the blow, but Gargantua ignored it, choosing instead to mercilessly pummel it. Each blow unleashing yet another devastating magic stored within the Revolver Knuckles. Ice, lightning, holy, unholy energies and of course more fire all slammed into the creature with blow after powerful blow. It was thus no wonder that within minutes the once intimidating Giant was disintegrating into the disgusting Voidharrow sludge.

As the monster died, Gargantued turned back to the battlefield. The attacking horde had been thinned quite a bit by the loss of the anchor provided by the Giant but there were still thousands of the aberrations. And even though the Voidharrow were being mowed down in droves by the prepared defenses all around the plain, they were, heedless to their losses, still advancing.

"Ge duty i still unfinished t seems (Our duty is still unfinished it seems)." Victim said as he rematerialized next to Gargantua.

Gargantua just nodded and stamped his right foot hard.

Immediately, hundreds of massive spikes of stone burst from the ground amidst the Voidharrow's ranks, impaling anything resembling leaders, killing them and whatever of their fellows they anchored. Victim was slower on the uptake but a moment later he too joined the battle by beginning to rain down all manner of deadly spells into the hordes doing much the same. Between them, they killed tens of thousands of the aberrations and held an entire front.

* * *

But there were more than one front on Felmid at that moment. On the opposite side of the Kanto battlefield from Victim and Gargantua, Mare and Aura were fighting their own battle against another of the Voidharrow's twisted leaders.

In this case it took the form of an oversized set of sleeping conjoined Human infants wearing a tattered, dirty smock and a scarf which appeared somewhat feathery. Besides their heads, none of its pale skinned body was exposed save a pair of enormous, adult-like arms that came out from underneath their smock, as if they were a pair of legs. As if this appearance wasn't unsettling enough, the monster also sobbed in a pair of sharp shrill voices.

"Damned! Can't it just shut up!" Aura shouted as she rode Fenn, her giant, crimson eyed, black wolf, in circles around the monster which had stomped its way out of its own lines directly at her and her brother, her bow ready to pelt it with arrows.

"Whoa!" She shouted as Fenn swerved to the right suddenly to avoid one of the monster's gross arms/leg things extended insanely as it made a desperate attempt to grab her.

All whilst it was simultaneously engaging Mare it in a duel of magic.

" **Stream of Lava!"** Mare cast sending a torrent of molten earth at the monster, only to have it countered by both the aberration's heads breathing out a chill breath that froze his attack solid well away from hitting it.

"It's got magic too!?" Aura cursed. "This is just unfair."

If Mare felt the same, he did not show it instead shaking off his failure entirely and simply casting another spell.

" **Impaling Earth!"** Her twin incanted, causing a forest of razor sharp spikes to shoot out of the ground to impale the monster from all sides.

"Good job, Mare!." Aura shouted in praise of her brother successful immobilizing the monster, leveling her bow and activating a skill. " **Monster Slaying Arrow!"**

Her magically charged arrow slammed into the monster and exploded causing it to reel in pain, even as it unleashed a surge of dark energy that shattered the spikes and freeing itself. Though it staggered perhaps due to its injuries.

"You're not getting away." Mare declared. " **Earth Surge."**

At her brother's invocation, the ground around the monster came alive and surged towards and proceeded to smother the disorientated monster, binding it in place within a mound of earth.

" **Rain Arrow!"** Aura shouted, activating her skill and sending hundreds of magical arrows falling on the monster causing it to howl in agony.

" **Stream of Lava!"** Mare followed up, sending another jet of lava at the monster which this time was in too much pain to disrupt his spell.

As a result, the molten earth burned the monster causing its already piercing screams to grow to an even greater intensity and it began to disintegrate into the Voidharrow sludge. Before it completely collapsed however, it stopped crying long enough to say something coherent for once.

"Onee-chan, Onii-chan bye bye."

Mare was startled at this and Aura frowned even as she guided Fenn to her twin's side.

"T-That creature was just-" Mare said looking at the monster's remains with a conflicted look on his face. "I dunno why but I feel sad for it."

"Yeah, me too." Aura agreed. "But that's why we need to defeat the crazy god who unleashed these things in the first place. Before he can create more horrors like these."

Mare's conflicted look vanished almost immediately at that and was replaced with one that radiated determination.

"Yes." The Druid said with a firm nod. "We will destroy whoever made these sad things."

"That's the spirit, Mare." Aura declared as she pulled her brother onto Fenn's back. "Let's go free more of these things from their suffering shall we?"

"Let's." Mare said gripping his staff tightly. "Before they can hurt Lord Ainz's kind heart."

Aura blinked in confusion at her twin's logic there. Sure, Lord Ainz would definitely feel saddened like they had if he learned of the monster they'd just fought. He was kind-hearted like that but she didn't think he would order them to fight the Voidharrow because of that.

_Then again, it would probably strengthen his resolve to do so. So maybe Mare does have a point. Ah! Whatever! It doesn't matter why he wants us to fight these damned things, just that Lord Ainz wants us to. That's more than good enough for me!_

With that thought in mind, she spurred Fenn on and he dutifully carried Mare and her back towards the heart of the fighting. They had an invasion to repel. She could ponder all of the probably manifold reasons the Supreme One wanted to destroy the Voidharrow later.

* * *

While her fellow Guardians were on the surface of Felmid fending off the Voidharrow invasion, Albedo stood inside the Nazarick Throne Room overseeing the state of the war.

"Looks like we won't have to worry about the Kanto situation for much longer." She noted as she analyzed the state of the battle there through a cluster of the dozens of holographic screens floating around her thanks to the projectors of the small workstation her Husband had installed for her. With the twins, Gargantua and Victim all there and the Voidharrow's primary leaders and anchors dead, the invasion there was pretty much contained.

The same could not be said elsewhere within their domains however and she frowned as turned towards another set of screens.

* * *

One such place that was struggling was the city of Arangyn in the Skelkor Republic where the Momon Renner found herself struggling to organize an effective defense from the sudden Voidharrow attack.

One that was led by a massive beast with a body that consists of a large triangular shaped torso with three long, double-jointed back legs at each point of its body. Its front leg was in fact the creature's head, containing a beak like mouth that was as segmented and foldable for moving around as the other legs. It had two pairs of large and small eyes on its head and two large feelers protruded from its underside and extended upwards, growing on either side of its head which run along its entire body, and ended in two bumps at its rear.

"Shit! It's raising its head!" Someone in the command center shouted and Renner hastily turned to her comms officer.

"Tell everyone to get into cover!"

The Human hurried to relay her order but Renner knew he wouldn't make it in time and she could only watch in anger via her tactical display as the monster shot a pressurized jet of water from its beak randomly at their lines, smashing them open for hordes of lesser Voidharrow to advance deeper into the already half fallen city.

"Any hope for reinforcements?" The usually poised Momon asked the harried comms operator with desperation tinging her words.

The poor woman just shook her head and Renner bit her lip in frustration even as she used the tactical display to guide her as she gave orders to fall back to a new defensive line where she prayed they could hold out until help arrived. It was their only hope. The enemy was just too formidable for them to defeat on their own.

It was however a slim hope at best as all nearby forces were just as beleaguered as her own. Arche and Kelart in Marangor were barely fending off some bird shaped monstrosity despite help from Lord Pandora's Actor. Meanwhile, Fluder had informed her that his forces in Daerr were likewise preoccupied fighting off some spiders aberrations. Similar replies come in from other regional commanders too. Only Caspond in Bellakh had finished fending off the enemy, a bunch of sludge lizards there apparently, but that it would take time, days at least, for him to fully secure the labyrinthine city and be able to spare the troops to reinforce her. Days that she did not have.

 _This is a shitty situation._ Renner mused with a frown. _Just my luck to get a cushy job as administrator of a trading hub and then suddenly find myself having to fight off an invasion of extradimensional aberrations! Bone Father if you can hear me, please help me out here!_

Suddenly a cheer from her men pulled her away from her thoughts and back towards the tactical display where she could see Lord Merwyrm emerge from the waters of the harbor behind the arthropod-like Voidharrow behemoth and wrapping his tentacles around the monster, dragged it into the sea. Simultaneously, hordes of Felmidian merfolk and aquatic undead were crawling out of the water and into the rear of the enemy lines.

 _Looks like my prayers were answered._ Renner thought with a grin.

"Relay to all troops, advance!" The Momon said to her comms officer. "We'll crush the enemy between ourselves and Lord Merwyrm's troops!"

"Yes ma'am!" The young woman said with more enthusiasm than she'd had the whole battle.

Feeling the boost to her own morale, Renner let a smile spread across her face as she watched the enemy get pushed back as they found themselves caught in the vise that was the two friendly armies. The smile only grew and grew as enemy unit after enemy unit winked off the display.

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and soon the tide turned against the defenders once more. This took the form of Lord Merwyrm's battered form suddenly being shot out of the churning waters of the harbor by a powerful water jet and the Voidharrow abomination beginning to slowly stride back onto land. It was missing big chunks of its body but that was cold comfort as the dead body of Lord Merwyrm slammed into the ground right in the heart of his own army, crushing many outright and shattering the morale of all friendlies in the city. Worse yet, as if to add insult to injury, the creature let out a roar not unlike that of a Dragon's in celebration of its victory.

It had however celebrated too early as it was still roaring when a **Gate** opened right on top of it and the Sliver Queen literally fell on top of it. Caught completely by surprise, the Voidharrow creature barely put up a struggle as the Queen wrapped her serpentine body around the monstrosity and stabbed it viciously with her scythe like arms.

"Kill it!" Renner hissed vindictively. "Kill that damned thing!"

The Sliver Queen was intent on just that, constricting the monster ever tighter in her coils even as her arms stabbed into its body without mercy. It took a few minutes but eventually the deed was done and the aberration began to disintegrate into the sludge that had spawned it.

Renner couldn't help the maniacal laugh she let loose at the sight. Watching the enemy that had given her so much trouble _finally_ die was just too much for her to resist.

"Order our troops to finish the enemies off." She commanded as she regained her composure. "Their numbers have been thinned by the lost of the anchoring effect that leviathan gave them. Our men should have an easy time of it."

"Y-Yes ma'am." The comms officer said a touch nervously.

 _My laugh was that unsettling was it?_ Renner thought with a mental frown. _I guess it might've been. Oh well! I'll just have to be extra nice the next few weeks. That'll correct whatever damage to my reputation that slip up caused._

Even as she pondered this, she kept an eye on the tactical display as it showed the Sliver Queen move carefully through the battered streets of the city to gently pick up Lord Merwyrm's body.

 _Wonder what will happen to it. Will Lord Ainz resurrect him?_ Renner shook her head, clearing it of such thoughts. _Whatever! That's above my pay grade anyways. I have my own job to do and that's to cleanse this city of the blasphemous taint of the Voidharrow._

* * *

Back in Nazarick's Throne Room, Albedo was far less dispassionate about Merwyrm's death. Looking at the corpse through the screens that surrounded her, she winced even as she used **Message** to contact the Sliver Queen.

_Sliver Queen. This is Albedo._

_What is it, Lady Albedo?_ The Mother of all Slivers said in reply sounding shaken.

_Bring Merwyrm home. We'll resurrect him._

That seemed to light a fire under her and the Sliver Queen gently picked up her fellow Lord of Felmid's body.

 _On my way._ The Queen said as she slithered towards a **Gate** that Albedo used her powers as goddess of administration, love and beauty to open for her to return to Felmid. _And thank you for informing me of Merwyrm's plight and providing the_ _ **Gate**_ _. I might not have been able to save him, but I am glad that I could at least avenge my friend._

_I merely did what Lord Ainz would've done._

_Indeed._ The Sliver Queen sent in agreement. _Nevertheless, you have my thanks._

With that, the Lady of Beasts disconnected and Albedo turned her attention away from that particular front. As much as she would have liked to have given Merwyrm the honor he deserved for having died fighting for Lord Ainz, there were other battles for her to oversee. And the battle Malwood and Baragon were fighting was one of them. Especially, since it was going poorly.

_This is bad! Who can I send in to help?_

* * *

The aforementioned battle saw the two Lords of Felmid in question fighting in the Himalayan mountains of Felmid where perhaps in an attempt at a flanking attack, a second smaller Voidharrow incursion was taking place.

This one however was led by the being who appeared to be responsible for the portals allowing them to attack Felmid in the first place, a winged serpent made out of a mass of glowing orbs which were covered in thousands of eyes and tendrils, and held together by the black sludge that characterized many Voidharrow. Its body was covered in portals in a pattern that resembled an incomplete scale mesh.

"Burn! You monster!" Baragon roared defiantly as he spat balls of lava out of his mouth at the aberration. The damned thing was smart however and it created a portal in front of it that intercepted the lavaballs and then opened another over Malwood that proceeded to shoot them back out, setting the Lord of the Plants on fire.

"Shit! Hang on Malwood!" Baragon cried in alarm as he rushed over to help, digging up dirt off the mountainside and throwing it on Malwood as he rolled around on the ground.

This distraction was costly however as it allowed the monster to hit Baragon in the side with a beam of sickly looking green energy that it breathed out of its mouth, which proceeded to pierce clean through his body and had him collapsing to the ground as he lost feeling in a good chunk of his body.

 _Is this how we die?_ Baragon thought to himself as he struggled to rise despite his wounds and saw that Malwood was doing the same.

Even as the two Lords of Felmid fought to rise, the Voidharrow Couatl reared its head back preparing to unleash the coup de grâce. It never got the chance as just as it began to open its mouth, a roar shook the world.

"Get away from them!" Lady Enri's voice boomed as she descended upon the aberration in the guise of a golden giant, her Coram Imperio raised and coming down in one smooth motion that decapitated the monster.

Instead of having the good graces to die however, the blasted thing simply reared back as if stunned even as the stump of its neck bubbled and two new heads began to emerge.

"Let's see how long you can keep that up!" Lady Enri demanded as without hesitation, she lashed out with her sword once more severing both heads even before they were even half formed.

A process she repeated over and over again as the monster continually tried to regenerate, chopping further and further down its length with each swing. It was almost comical if not for the seriousness of the situation but eventually the monster had taken too much damage and as Lady Enri severed the section of the monster's body just before its wings, it finally fell out of the sky and collapsed into the muck from whence it came.

"And stay dead!" Lady Enri declared as she turned away from the pool of sludge to face the two of them.

" **Mass Greater Cure Wounds."** Lady Enri cast, before looking at them both carefully. "Malwood, Baragon, you two okay?"

"Yes, thank you for the assistance." Malwood said as he shakily got to his feet.

"You have my gratitude." Baragon told her.

"Glad to help." Lady Enri said with a smile. "But if you're well then we still have a job to do."

Baragon nodded, looking at the Voidharrow army still present on the mountain slopes all around them as it battled with his elemental subordinates and Malwood's forestfolk.

"Let's cleanse our Lord's world of this filth."

* * *

Seeing Enri save the day in the Himalayas, Albedo breathed a sigh of relief that Felmid was well on the way to being secured and with the destruction of the Voidharrow Coatl hopefully the enemy's ability to use portals would be reduced too. At least before they could replace it. Surely, even if it was not unique, which was a real possibility, then there couldn't be too many of its ilk.

"That just leaves the battle at Marangor undecided." Albedo observed as she turned to face the screen displaying the data from that battle.

* * *

The battle for the capital of the Skelkor Republic was mainly an aerial one and was dominated by the titanic duel between Pandora's Actor and the lead monster of the attacking Voidharrow. A duel for which the god of treasure and intrigue had taken the form of his schwester Drau's Primeval Prismatic Dragon Lord form. A fitting form considering the location and the opponent he was battling, namely a monster that had the overall shape of a gigantic crow roughly the same size of his current form but whose whole body was made out of the amalgamation of countless bodies, both humanoid and not, held together by copious amounts of the Voidharrow's trademark black sludge.

It had led a murder of similar but smaller Voidharrow Crows that had descended on Marangor unexpectedly. They were however being held off admirably by Marangor's defenders and the fleet of ships that he commanded which had been tasked by his Vater with supplementing the city's defenses. This left their abominable leader solely up to him.

" **Laser Breath!"** Pandora's Actor cried out dramatically as he used his form's **Rainbow Breath** skill to shoot out a storm of thin lasers that streaked across the sky to rake across the body of the enemy crow monster and burned off whole chunks of its twisted flesh.

Much to the Greater Doppelgänger's dismay, when he'd assumed his schwester's form he'd discovered that his version of **Rainbow Breath** was limited to only what breath weapons that Drau had used in the past unlike her own version that allowed her to create any breath weapon she could dream up. Considering how stingy his kleine Schwester was with the use of her Dragon forms he wasn't given much material at all to work with! But he was a professional and would not be held back by such petty limits!

That said, as he saw the Voidharrow monster shake off his attack as if it was nothing despite losing large portions of its body he couldn't help but be even more annoyed at the lack of variety with which he had to work with.

He was forced to discard such distracting thoughts quickly though as the crow banked through the air and descended upon him with its talons ready to tear him to pieces. Tentacles were even growing out of its breasts each tipped with a sharp looking spike ready to rip into his flesh.

Pandora's Actor wasn't about to let it get close however and as it made its final approach, he breathed out a powerful cone of cold with his **Chill Breath**. Drau's version would probably have only left the monster coated in frost, but as powerful as his kleine Schwester was she could not compare to her älterer Bruder. He was a god after all and his version of this breath weapon proved that, freezing the monster solid inside a block of ice.

It began to fall from the sky but Pandora's Actor was having none of that. Sweeping down and grabbing it just before it fell down into the chaotic melee that was filling the lower altitudes above Marangor, he used his prodigious strength and tossed it high into the air.

Already the ice was melting and cracking, the monster growing tendrils from its body to drill and corrupt its way out of its prison. But it would hold long enough.

"Time to die, enemy of mein Vater." Pandora's Actor declared ominously as prepared to finish this. " **Explosive Breath!"**

He spat an immense fireball at the still frozen Voidharrow monster which impacted with a titanic explosion that blinded everyone for miles around in a white flash and created a roar heard just as far. That was only the minor consequences though as the heat and force unleashed by the blast literally tore a hole in Toril's upper atmosphere miles wide. It would have been utterly catastrophic for all the region's inhabitants if not for Pandora's Actor using his godly powers to still the air and fill the vacuum created.

"I might've overdid it there." The Greater Doppelgänger noted with what passed for embarrassment on his currently Dragonic face. "Oh well! At least the monster is dead and I averted the disaster I almost caused. I'm sure Vater won't be _too_ upset with me."

* * *

"Don't be too sure," Albedo said with a roll of her eyes as she saw the near disaster Pandora's Actor's overeagerness almost caused.

She wasn't too upset however. As with Pandora's Actor's defeat of the Voidharrow Crow menacing Marangor, the last of the Voidharrow's incursions into their territory were repulsed.

"With this the enemy's offensive is blunted." Albedo observed as she looked over the various screens once more. "At least for the most part."

There were some fronts like those belonging to the Demons which were still tenuous at best, but most had stabilized. Overall, it seemed that the enemy had focused the majority of their attention on attacking them and with these efforts repulsed, their strength, at least for now, was spent.

 _A wise move considering just how much of a threat Lord Ainz is to them._ Albedo conceded despite her distaste for offering any praise to the enemy.

 _Abledo._ Her Husband's charming voice filled her ears as a **Message** spell took effect.

"Yes, my Lord?" She asked aloud.

 _Prepare Nazarick to receive guests._ Her Master ordered. _With stability on the frontlines established, it is time to prepare our counterattack. To that effect, I will shortly be sending out invitations to the Realms' various powers to meet and discuss plans for such. Make ready to receive them._

"As you command."

_Truly his wisdom knows no bounds. He realized the time is opportune for a counteroffensive even before I did and I'm the one entrusted to monitor the progress of the war._

Albedo allowed herself a moment to squirm in pleasure at having such a perfect Lord and Husband before recollecting herself. He had given her an order and she had to carry it out.

She could not disappoint her love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Now this is the length I was going for with the chapters of this 'book'. Not sure I can keep it up but I'll try. Hope you guys liked it regardless of length.
> 
> Beyond that there's not much for me to say this chapter, but before I sign off, here's the Visual Guide for some of the monsters I borrowed for this chapter:
> 
> Ordine = Ordinemon from the Digimon franchise
> 
> Victim and Gargantua's opponent = Lephantis from the Warframe franchise
> 
> Mare and Aura's opponent = Twin Victim from the Silent Hill franchise
> 
> The monster which attacks Arangyn = a Sea Treader from Subnautica
> 
> The Himalayan monster = inspired by Yog Sothoth from the Lovecraft Mythos crossed with a Couatl
> 
> Till next time, ijeoma!


	35. Dusk War 4: Final Battle

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Dusk War**

**Chapter 4: Final Battle**

**Beta:**

* * *

At Ainz's call, the many powers of Realmspace had come to Nazarick to discuss the invasion of the Voidharrow. To his surprise, _everyone_ had turned up. Forces of all alignments, of all planes, creatures of all kinds had deigned to answer his call. From gods to primordials to demon lords to elder evils. All were represented. Such was the threat posed by the Voidharrow that all had gathered to discuss a unified response to the invasion. Tensions were thus expectedly high in the Nazarick Throne Room, only held in check by the looming danger they were all under and the presence of Ainz Ooal Gown, the one who had scored the greatest victories against the enemy, acting as mediator kept it from boiling over.

That did not however keep the disparate factions from verbally sniping at each other and filling the vast hall with noise. Thus as Ainz rose to address his gathered peers, he was forced to slam the butt of the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown into the ground loudly to garner their attention.

"After long hours of discussions," Ainz said once the noise had died down to more manageable levels. "I am pleased to inform all of you, my esteemed peers, that we have finally concocted a plan that we hope will help us win this war against the Voidharrow."

This was met with excited murmuring from the gathered dignitaries but Ainz lifted a hand for patience and waited for the commotion to die down once more before continuing.

"However, before I share it. All of us will need to properly understand the context of the situation we find ourselves in. To that end, I will have my subordinate explain."

Saying this, he gestured to Demiurge who promptly stepped forward and addressed the gathered divinities.

"Honored guests," The tuxedo wearing Devil began. "As most of you are probably aware, the Voidharrow's invasion of the Astral Sea and the Prime Material Plane of Realmspace have been halted, however our own counterattack into the Elemental Chaos has ground to a halt and has even been pushed back. This despite our armies being bolstered by forces from across the Realms."

This was met with uneasy murmurs from the crowd as expected. The efforts that the Realms' powers had gathered to resist the Voidharrow was unprecedented. Forces that had been at war with each other since the Dawn War were now fighting on the same side, yet even then the Voidharrow was holding out. This fact alone was enough to strike fear into the hearts of many of those gathered.

Probably in a bid to let them vent a bit of this natural fear, Demiurge allowed the murmuring to continue for a moment before he raised his hand to signal for silence so he could continue.

_Hmm. His ability to play the crowd is impressive._ Ainz thought to himself idly as the Throne Room quieted. _I can learn a thing or two from him._

"However, not everything is bad news." Demiurge said as he began speaking again. "From our studying of the combat data we gained from our counterattacks, we have gained vital knowledge. We now know that the power of all of the Voidharrow's beings at any given time is linked to the level at which their vile corruption has affected the area. A limitation that we have proof extends to Tharizdun himself. It is with this knowledge that we have formulated a plan to cut the head off the snake of the Voidharrow menace."

Again Demiurge paused, this time, Ainz saw, to allow the hope his words had kindled to catch alight.

_He is truly a master of crowd manipulation._ The Overlord noted. He was sure many of the divinites knew they were being played, but Demiurge was doing it so masterfully that they either didn't care or were amused enough to play along. At the very least, no one objected. For which Ainz was glad.

"Now," the well dressed Devil said when he judged the crowd was enthused enough. "Let me outline our plan."

* * *

Days after the summit in Nazarick, in accordance to the plan Demiurge had drawn up thousands of portals opened near to each other inside the Voidharrow occupied region of the Elemental Chaos and from them stepped forth hundreds of allied divinities who proceeded to blast away the infestation surrounding the gateways. The gods of Nazarick were no exception and even as Cocytus stepped through he used his **Acala's Sword** to disintegrate the hundreds of Voidharrow abominations clustered around the portal.

_A few of those must have been anchors._ The Vermin Lord noted as he saw whole swathes of the enemy now rushing forwards to fill the gap he had created die with no apparent cause. _If so, they are-_

"Weak," He commented with irritation as used **Frost Breath** in combination with **Piercing Icicle** to freeze and skewer the entire enemy front line. "They are. So. Weak. Compared to. Ogdoad!"

" **Mass Purifying Lance!"** Shalltear incanted from where she hovered to this right as she activated her newly created skill and sent dozens of lances of holy energy into the enemy ranks and felled dozens of the larger monsters. Some of whom were anchors and took hundreds more of their lesser brethren with them into oblivion as they faded out of existence.

"Maybe they switched to a quantity over quality approach?" His fellow Floor Guardian suggested as they both unleashed another set of skills to hold the Voidharrow swarm back from the portal behind them.

An effort helped by Deathwing who flew through it just then and proceeded to circle around it, strafing the enemy monsters with bolts of golden lightning that was his **Gravity Beam** breath weapon derived from his domain as the god of the vacuum as he did, tearing them apart by the hundreds with the shearing gravitic forces of his new skill before banking over to join them.

"It doesn't seem to be working out for them." He commented with a pleased growl as he hovered above Cocytus and Shalltear whilst joining them in blasting away at the enemy with his skills.

Unleashing another **Acala's Sword** Cocytus just nodded distractedly, even as he watched the impressive sight of Celestials, Devils, Demons and everything in between fighting alongside each other against a common foe as mortal elements of the allied forces began pouring out of the portals and into the footholds the divinities had created where they quickly formed up into units before throwing themselves at the enemy with gusto. As far as the intermediate god could see, divinities fought alongside their followers, scything through the Voidharrow ranks like a hot knife through butter and focusing their power on the anchors of this abominable horde as far as possible. Even as others stood guard over the portals and protected them and the troops coming through them from the enemy.

The three gods of Nazarick had been part of the latter but as their troops secured the portal on their own, Cocytus turned to his peers.

"Time. To. Go. On. The Offensive." The god of honor and warriors told them with a weapon in each hand and his heart singing the song of battle.

"Wait." Shalltear said unexpected, pointing off into the distance. "Looks like I spoke too soon earlier."

Looking towards the direction she was indicating, Cocytus saw a number of particularly large Voidharrow monsters begin pushing their way out of the unending hordes of the enemy towards the frontlines.

"Look sharp." Deathwing said. "One of them is coming this way."

The monster crawling its way towards them had a head similar to that of a crocodile and a maw with knife-like teeth, even on the interior lining. In addition, six large tusks, three on each side, protruded from the fulcrum-region of its mouth. A large number of vines and tendrils grew from all over its body, some ending in sharp, spear-like ends, while others sported small, sharp-toothed mouths. It had four stubby, root-like legs that it used to drag itself along the ground as well as what appeared to be meaty yellow and red-orange flesh resembling a brain-like surface underneath the tangled mess of vines and plant tissue that made up most of its bulk.

As befitting the first to identify the threat, Shalltear went on the offensive first and gathering her magic she unleashed a spell.

" **Maximize Magic: Greater Lethal!"** The True Vampire cast, hitting the plant monster with a terrible burst of negative energy that had it reeling in pain.

Pressing the attack, Deathwing circled the twisted creature and bathed it in his **Gravity Beam** , cutting whole chunks off its mass. The floral monstrosity however was not so easily bested and lashed out with its tendrils sending a veritable jungle's worth of its vines out at them. Some lashed out at them like whips, others sought to coil around them, whilst yet others tried to impale them, and a handful even began spitting globs of acid at them. But each of the three gods of Nazarick were easily able to evade or cut through these assaults and press the attack.

Chief among them was Cocytus who under the supporting suppressive fire from Shalltear and Deathwing, closed to close quarters with the monster.

" **Vidyārāja Strike!"** The Vermin Lord chanted as he unleashed a cutting wave of golden energy from God Slaying Emperor Blade as the odachi cut deeply into the enemy's bulk.

A blow he immediately followed up by slashing into the gaping wound he'd created with his halberd, Decapitation Fang. This expanded it further and he finished his attack by jabbing the twin lightning infused lances that he wielded in his lower arms, sending innumerable bolts of electricity surging through the monster's twisted flesh. Thus he was treated to the sight of the monster spasming from being electrocuted as he leapt away from the enemy's questing tendrils.

Much to his dismay however the damned thing had recovered enough by the time he'd landed, coincidentally after having cut a dozen of its vines that tried to catch him while he was midair. Worse, it seemed it was readying some kind of powerful attack as a glow was traveling up from the fleshy portion towards its oversized mouth which was gaping open.

"Don't let it pull it off!" Shalltear shouted as she sent a **Purifying Lance** directly down the beast's gullet.

The attack shot out the other side of the monster's head but while it stumbled back at the blow, it did not deter it from continuing to power up its attack and so Cocytus sprinted forward to add his firepower to the attempt to stop it. Unfortunately, he knew he wouldn't make it. Not with the monster throwing its vines in his way in a deliberate attempt to waylay him. Luckily though, Deathwing was able to pick up the slack and even whilst jinking and dodging through the air to avoid a pack of flying lesser Voidharrow that had appeared to harass him, he managed to line up a shot of his **Gravity Beam**. The breath weapon hit the plant monster in the large target it presented in the form of its gaping mouth and like Shalltear's **Purifying Lance** blasted clean through its head but where that had yielded only a relatively small wound, the greater size of Deathwing's attack completely blasted the thing's head off. The energy it had gathered thus shot out of the stump of its neck like a geyser and fired harmlessly up into the air.

Amazingly, the beast was still not dead.

A state of affairs that Cocytus was happy to rectify as he unleashed an **Acala's Sword** at the monster's bulk, ripping deep gashes into its body and cutting whole chunks clean off.

" **Bladestorm!"** He incanted as he activated the skill that turned him into a spinning twister of deadly blades that shredded the plant monster's remains.

"It. Is. Done." Cocytus declared as he leapt out of the disintegrating remains of the beast once his skill deactivated.

"Yeah," Shalltear acknowledged as she pulled her Spuit Lance out of the disintegrating corpse of a Voidharrow flyer. "And we're doing well overall too."

"Indeed," Deathwing said in agreement as he spat a shower of fireballs to scorch a pack of distant Voidharrow that had been firing spheres of destructive energies at allied forces like some kind of improvised artillery.

A quick survey told Cocytus they were right. They were indeed laying waste to Tharizdun's forces and forcing them back across what seemed to be the entire front.

Of course, that's exactly when the Mad God decided to make his move.

Some distance away, the First of the Seldarine was leading his pantheon and their chosen elven followers in carving deep into the Voidharrow's ranks. Corellon Larethian himself was shooting down Voidharrow anchor monsters with his bow so quickly that his hand movements were so fast that it was a blur, even to Coctyus' eyes as a warrior god, when suddenly the humanoid black hole that was Tharizdun appeared from nowhere and shot a massive beam of energy at the Ruler of All Elves.

_Finally._ Cocytus thought with a pleased click of his mandibles even as the elf god barely evaded the attack with an acrobatic leap to the side. _Now it is Demiurge's time for you to shine._

* * *

"There he is," the aforementioned Devil said with a pleased grin as he watched Tharizdun finally make his appearance on the magical display he was using to watch the battle.

Turning from said image, he addressed the gathered gods of magic, mystery and those with even a modicum of influence over the mystic arts that stood in Mystra, the goddess of Magic's palace in the Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus.

"Ready?" Demiurge asked.

Mystra exchanged a look with the other gods who all nodded.

"Yes," Mystra informed him. "Let us end this war."

"Then let us begin." Demiurge said with a nod before he turned back to the view of the battlefield offered by the magical image even as vast mystic energies were channeled behind him.

It barely registered to him, so engrossed was he at seeing the foolish Tharizdun fall for the trap Lord Ainz had conceived. The Mad God even looked surprised as a pillar of light surrounded him out of nowhere as the spell being worked by the united powers of the gods of magic captured him. He struggled, throwing multiple iterations of what that the Devil recognized as the deadly **Sphere of Annihilation** at the barrier which coincided with grunts of pain from the magical gods.

"Hang on!" Mystra urged her compatriots. "We almost have him! Just hang on a little longer."

"Yes, just push a little harder." Demiurge said, adding a little encouragement of his own. "Just a little more."

Cries of effort sounded from the magical gods in reply as they presumably redoubled their efforts.

Their effort paid off however and the light that surrounded Tharizdun turned blinding before in one last burst of light he vanished from the Elemental Chaos.

Quickly, Demiurge waved his hand at the magical projection causing the current image it was showing to dissolve and reform into a new one that showed a desolate island in the middle of the Trackless Sea of Toril where on one end of the small isle stood his Master Lord Ainz in all his glory as he waited patiently and on the other, appearing in a pillar of light, emerged the Mad God Tharizdun.

"And so the final die is cast," Mystra said from behind him, sounding out of breath. "Let us hope your Master lives up to all that is said about him."

"Oh, I assure you that he will." Demiurge said with a confident smirk. "Just wait and see."

* * *

As the pillar of light deposited Tharizdun a few hundred meters ahead of him, the being who was once Suzuki Satoru and who was now known as the primordial Ainz Ooal Gown felt none of his subordinate's confidence. Thanks to his undead constitution though he didn't feel any of the crippling fear that being in the situation he found himself in would have elicited had he still been human. Instead, all he felt was an unnatural calm for which he was grateful for.

It was this calm that allowed him to not hesitate as he used his special ability and imposed his authority over all the space around him to lock down much of Tharizdun's power the moment that the Mad God arrived. Sadly, this move had the rather annoying side effect of doing the same for much of his own strength. Nevertheless, if he had hoped to win this fight it was a necessary sacrifice to make.

"What is this? What have you done!?" The humanoid black hole that was the Mad God howled as he sensed the restrictions he suddenly found himself under.

"Merely banned reality warping." Ainz told Tharizdun. "We'll be limited to our own magic and skills for the duration of this battle. Though I did also limit any further teleportation magic. I wouldn't want you to escape now would I?"

"Escape? _You_ think you've caught me? How presumptuous, you insect." Tharizdun said with a scoff even as he shot a beam of entropic energy at Ainz who silently cast a **Magic Shield** and batted it away with the left hand he had covered in its neon green protective aura.

"Standardized spells?" Tharizdun mocked with a scowl. "You may be an insect but you are still a god. A being who can reshape reality with your will alone! And yet instead of embracing that power, you're lowering yourself to using standardized spells?"

"For the challenge, yes I do."

"Challenge!? You see me as a mere challenge!?" Tharizdun shouted, infuriated. "Die, you worm! **Storm of Vengeance!** "

" **Spellbreaker."** Ainz said calmly, dispelling the storm clouds that the Mad God's spell had gathered. "Did you think I would all you to set up a DOT (Damage Over Time) spell?"

The humanoid black hole's reply came in the way of another spell.

" **Meteor Swarm!"**

_For someone adverse to the use of standardized spells, he's quite adept at them._ Ainz thought idly as he used a **Shell Barrier** to shield him from the falling meteors Tharizdun had summoned and readied his counterattack.

" **Triplet, Maximize Magic: Reality Slash!"** The Overlord said almost lazily as with a casual wave of his left hand, he sent three blades of warped space at Tharizdun.

"Is that the best you can do?" The Mad God shouted, making no effort to evade or shield against the incoming spell. "Such weak magic won't even be able to ha- Argh!"

His haughty little speech was cut off as the three **Reality Slash** es hit him dead on and proceeded to cut deep wounds into his body.

"Dodging or blocking an incoming unfamiliar attack is just the smart thing to do." Ainz said with a shake of his head, before continuing his attack. " **Maximize Magic: Vermilion Nova!"**

This consumed the Mad God in a pillar of fire that just had the humanoid black hole screaming in even more pain.

"I will not be defeated so easily!" Tharizdun roared as he unleashed a burst of dark energy.

When the lightshow faded, it revealed that Tharizdun had morphed into a monster with a ursine body with a frothing mouth shaped like a hand. Standing on his hind legs, he revealed that his new form had a chest full of eyes even as the Mad God let out a blood curdling roar before charging at Ainz intent on engaging him in melee.

" **Fly** ," Ainz said almost absently as he floated lazily out of the reach of Tharizdun's monstrous new form. "You do realize I'm pretty much a dedicated caster? Staying away from melee attackers is practically the first thing I learned how to do."

Tharizdun's only reply to Ainz's taunt was to let out a frustrated roar.

_Guess he can't talk in this form._ Ainz noted with a frown. _Shame. Exchanging taunts with him earlier was actually entertaining._

Despite seemingly having made a misstep, Tharizdun did not change shape. Instead he cupped the hand like mouth together and began gathering power.

"You think I'd let you pull that off?" Ainz said with a raised eyebrow. " **Maximize Magic: Gravity Maelstrom!"**

At his invocation, a powerful gravity distortion was conjured directly where Tharizdun was standing that promptly caught his monstrous form in its grip. The powerful shearing gravitic forces of the distortion pushed and pulled the Mad God's body in multiple directions all at once, tearing it apart in the process and tossing the mangled remains out like so much refuse.

In midair however Tharizdun was once more surrounded by dark energy as he transformed again. In this new shape, he'd regained his humanoid upper body but in place of his lower body was a nimbus of darkness, with six massive blue-tipped wings protruding from where his legs should be. Two linked halos, one larger than the other floated behind him, with the larger one shaped to look like a sun. His right arm was replaced by a dark red wing and his eyes were ablaze with a dark energy.

"If you're going to reduce this fight to a competition at shapeshifting, as boring as that will be I'll oblige." Ainz said with a roll of his eyes as he tapped into the portion of his divine power he had not locked away for this fight and in a burst of dark energy transformed into a gigantic skeletal dragon.

Immediately upon assuming his new shape, Ainz opened his maw wide and unleashed a cone of negative energy that washed over Tharizdun.

"Fool!" The Mad God shouted unscathed by the attack. "Did you think that negative energy would harm me? Among other things, I _am_ a god of death."

_Damn! I forgot that._ Ainz thought, cursing his oversight as he snapped his jaws shut and began evasive maneuvers as Tharizdun counterattacked by tossing dozens of iterations of **Sphere of Annihilation** at him.

The primordial managed to evade most of them but all it took was one hit to his chest to send him falling from the sky thanks to the destructive power Tharizdun had put into its creation.

_I really need to practice using this form more often if I want to use it in a fight again._ Ainz thought to himself as he pushed himself back to his feet and breathed a stream of fire at Tharizdun in retaliation.

Said god just deflected it with a **Magic Shield** enshrouded hand in what Ainz was sure was a mocking imitation of his own opening move of this fight. Not that the primordial cared one whit about being taunted or the failure of his attack, having used it merely as a cover as he leapt back into the air.

Surprisingly though Tharizdun let him, choosing not to press his advantage.

"Why are you dragging this out?" The Mad God chose to ask instead, his brows furrowed in angry confusion. "Take your true divine form already!"

_I honestly was trying to avoid that._ Ainz thought with a grimace that thankfully did not translate to his current Dragonic form. _I have even less practice with that than this one._

Nevertheless, it seemed Ainz had little choice. While he wasn't completely sure, he had a feeling the Mad God's current many winged form was exactly that and if he wanted to win then he _had_ to take his true divine form. Nothing else had the power to match the other divinity's true form.

"If you insist." Ainz cried out in annoyance and obliged, calling on his power and surrounding himself in his power to transform into his truest form.

As the obligatory burst of light and energy faded, Ainz had resumed his humanoid form but now stood at a height on par with a Giant. Beyond his height there were also a handful of other differences, such as left hand which had transformed into a Dragon skull, the dozen pair of wings made of dark energy that now grew from his back and aura of dark energy with the occasional howling souls of the damned screaming around him that now permanently enshrouded his body.

"That's fairly impressive, I suppose." Tharizdun said looking over Ainz's form appraisingly.

Using the Mad God's lack of wariness, Ainz silently activated **The Goal of All Life is Death**.

_Now to distract him for twelve seconds._ Ainz thought as the clock face that characterized the skill's activation appeared behind his back but was instantly hidden by his churning aura.

" **Howls of the Damned."** Ainz said, activating the basic offensive skill of his current form and sending hundreds of spirits of the damned shooting out of his aura like bullets at Tharizdun.

"Child's play." Tharizdun said with a scoff as he simply created a **Sphere of Annihilation** in front of him that tanked the attack for him.

_It would be, if it that the end of my attack._ Ainz thought as he raised the Staff of Ainz Ooal Gown at Tharizdun whose view was blocked by the **Sphere of Annihilation** he was using as a defense.

" **Lance of Torment."** The primordial cast one of the hundreds of new spells he'd created since his apotheosis and sent a psychic lance at the Mad God which being psionic in nature completely bypassed the influence of the **Sphere of Annihilation** to hit its target.

"A psionic attack?" Tharizdun said with a laugh. "You think a petty psionic attack can even shake me? The Mad God? How foolish!"

_The only fool here is you._ Ainz thought as the twelve seconds he needed to activate **The Goal of All Life is Death** ran its course and the skill's ability to strengthen the instant death effect of magic and skills to the point of bypassing any immunity or resistance came into effect.

" **True Death!"** Ainz cast with full confidence.

A confidence which was justified as the **Sphere of Annihilation** Tharizdun conjured sputtering out of existence as the Mad God promptly fell out of the sky dead.

"And that's-"

"Not so fast!" Tharizdun shouted unexpected as he slowly floated back into the air. "I never expected your instant death magic to work on me. But considering how you killed Atropus I should have. That said, it was a wasted effort. I am one with the Voidharrow, did you think that even if it did that it would last?"

_Gotcha._

"No," Ainz said with a chuckle as he tweaked the restrictions he'd placed on reality in the local area. "But thank you for explaining to me your connection to the Voidharrow."

"What do you-" Tharizdun began only to suddenly spasm in pain. "What have you done!?"

"My greatest power is not my magic." Ainz explained with a smirk, "It is my ability to passively impose my perception of the world on all those around me in spite of the powers of others. I cannot block things which I do not understand however and your little trick with the Voidharrow was exploiting that little loophole."

"So what? You've cut me off?" Tharizdun laughed. "Even if you kill me here, the Voidharrow will just resurrect me elsewh-"

"I know." Ainz said, his smirk just growing. "So I manipulated your link. Turned you into not just the central anchor for that abominable infection but its very embodiment, its _only_ true anchor. Do you know what that means?"

Tharizdun's eyes widened in horror and he backed away from the Overlord.

"I see that you do." Ainz said, amused by the Mad God's reaction. "If you die here, the Voidharrow dies with you."

"Then I'll just need to kill you instead!" Tharizdun roared, beating his many wings at Ainz and sending a barrage of energy bullets raining down at him.

Ainz just wrapped his own wings around himself in a protective cocoon and raised his Dragonic skull even as he began gathering the energy for what he had planned.

He honestly wanted to use **The Goal of All Life is Death** again but knew he couldnot. The spell had a cooldown time between uses of a 100 hours and while he could easily lift that restriction with a little reality warping through his godly powers, doing so would unlock the very restrictions on such that was giving him the advantages that he was using to keep up with Tharizdun.

_No matter. I will just have to defeat him the old fashioned way._

Leveling the skull shaped left hand at Tharizdun, who was desperately firing every attack he could conceive at him, Ainz opened the skeletal Dragon maw which was now brimming with his gathered power.

" **Wrath of Ainz Ooal Gown!"** Ainz incanted, firing a pitch black fireball in the shape of his own head out of the skeletal Dragon maw, screeching across the distance and slamming into the Mad God where it consumed him in a pillar of dark flames.

" **No~!"** Tharizdun screamed in agony as he was obliterated by the attack.

As the Mad God died, Ainz felt a surge of immense power fill up his being.

For a moment he panicked, afraid that he had inadvertently absorbed the Voidharrow. However, as he felt none of the corrupting, tainted touch of that vile thing he relaxed.

_I do wonder what I gained though._ Ainz pondered even as he transformed back into his normal form. _It can't just be Tharizdun's divine essence. There was too much power for that._

_Well whatever, I can figure it out later._ He concluded with a shrug as he opened a **Gate** portal back to Nazarick. _For now let's go savor my victory._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Not too happy with this chapter to be honest. Or this last 'book' to be honest. But I'm not sure how to fix it. Shrug. I'm just going to move on. I've got another project lined up already and I'd rather start writing it that get bogged down here trying to fix things. A project that at the point of this chapter's posting is likewise being released so for any Game of Thrones/A song of Ice and Fire fans out there feel free to check out Alyssa I Targaryen.
> 
> That said, there's still an epilogue to this story before I call it quits on it entirely so see you guys there.
> 
> Before I go though, here's a Visual Guide for some of the things I borrowed from various IPs:
> 
> The monster that Cocytus, Shalltear and Deathwing fought = Biollante from the Godzilla franchise
> 
> Tharizdun's ursine form = Monstrosity of Sin from Dark Souls 3
> 
> Tharizdun's winged form = Safer∙Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII
> 
> That's it for the chapter folks. So till next time ban kwana!


	36. Dusk War 5: Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Overlord or Dungeons & Dragons**

**The Greater Apotheosis of Ainz Ooal Gown**

**Book : Dusk War**

**Chapter 5: Epilogue**

**Beta:**

* * *

It was about a month after the end of the Voidharrow Incursions and the party was gathered in a private booth in a tavern in Waterdeep after a day of gathering supplies for the trip to their newest destination.

"So did we get everything we need?" Drau asked as everyone finished settling into their seats.

"We're fully stocked up on all the food, water and beer we'll need." Kuro who gone out as a human so as not to raise undue attention said.

"Beer?" Neia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Kuro insisted." Yorha said with a shrug while she absently ran a hand down Grimfal's spine as he dozed whilst coiled up on her shoulders like a shawl. "Said we'd need it if we ever wanted to celebrate something."

"It's only a few skins." Kuro said with a smile. "Besides, I'm sure we'd want some variety in our drinks once in a while."

The others exchanged looks before everyone just shrugged.

"I guess it's not a problem. Gaul, you got us the potions we needed?"

"Had to pay through the nose for some of it and had to **Gate** to Felmid to buy a few others, but I managed." The armored Wizard said with a nod.

_I hope he didn't overspend_ that _much._ Drau thought. Money wasn't exactly tight but overspending on anything was offensive to her Dragonic sensibilities.

"I kept to the budget though, Drau, so don't worry about it." Gaul reassured her, having picked up on her apprehension.

"Speaking of our budget," Taana said cutting in with a smile. "I got us some good deals when exchanging our money for some trade goods. Especially on the gold and gems. Dunno if it'll make up for the increased prices on the potions but it should help at least."

"Did you manage to deliver our mail too?"

"Yup," Taana answered Neia's question. "It was the first thing I did this morning. All our friends back in Skelkor will be fully informed of our plans to visit Sigil and that we might be out of touch for a while until we find a reliable way to communicate from the City of Doors."

"First thing in the morning?" Kuro asked with a teasing smirk. "Did that rush have anything to do with the _long_ letter you wrote Arche?"

"You mean the love letter?" Yorha added, jumping in on the tease.

"It wasn't a love letter." Taana insisted with a pout. "Arche and I are just _friends_! Friends dammit! We both like men!"

"Yet you've never even had a boyfriend." Neia teased.

"Neither have you!" Taana retorted.

"I'm a Saint." Neia reminded her with a grin. "I'm _supposed_ to be celibate."

"I _know_ that's not a tenet in our dogma!"

"Is it?" Neia said, looking confused. "But I'm also our Founder ain't I? And Pope too? Doesn't that mean I can make it so it is?"

Taana just threw her hands up in exasperation and everyone laughed at her expense.

"So Taana's love letter aside," Gaul said, ignoring the Shadar-kai's exasperated huff. "Drau, since we've heard from everyone else. What about your end? Got us anything useful about Sigil?"

"I've managed to gather some useful stuff on the various factions operating out of the city but nothing pressing." Drau said with a shrug. "Mostly all I got were reassurances that all the prep we're going is overboard. Apparently so long as we don't go there looking for or expecting trouble we'll be fine. Sigil is a city with all the accompanying services so we should be good for food, lodging and what not. Plus since it has constant access to Toril our money will likely be good as well, though I heard the exchange rate for the local coin can be a little steep."

"Well better overprepared now than sorry that we underprepared later." Neia argued. "To that end, I've informed the relevant contacts that we'll be gone for a while so won't be around to take up their usual exploration and extermination contracts. Also managed to pass along a message to the Lords of Waterdeep that we would be moving on. Amusingly, when I told the Lords' contact that, the man actually slumped in relief."

This earned a round of chuckles from everyone.

"Not surprised there." Taana said with a grin. "We _have_ caused the Lords a lot of headaches since we got here."

_She's not wrong there._ Drau concluded. _We_ _might have been busy fighting the Voidharrows out in the surrounding countryside lately and stayed mostly out of the Lords' hair but before that we'd caused them no amount of problems with our enthusiastic destruction of the city's admittedly relatively small criminal underworld._

_Speaking of the Voidharrow…_

"Guys, so while I was getting that intel on Sigil I also asked around if there were any more Voidharrow around. To cover our bases, you know?"

Everyone nodded in understanding. They all knew the value of checking to make sure an enemy was truly gone before moving on. Having to deal with Bert Saxer popping up every so often hellbent on killing them had taught them _that_ lesson.

"So word has it that with the Bone Father killing Tharizdun, the Voidharrow lost its anchor to the world and either faded away or got mopped up by the powers of Realmspace."

"Why do I think the mopping up likely wasn't as through as we'd like?" Gauldoth noted with a resigned sigh.

He was a nihilistic bastard most times but even he hated having to fight the same foe over and over again, though as he once famously put it that was mostly because 'they always come back better equipped with knowledge and tools to kill us with.'

_Which he isn't wrong about._

"Because some of the Realm's powers are assholes and will keep some of the Voidharrow around to use against their enemies?" Neia offered.

"I'd say that's them being reckless rather than being contemptible." Yorha countered. "Though I suppose the end result is the same."

"Yeah, you would think that after the utter devastation left in the wake of the invasion, with large chunks of the Elemental Chaos, the Astral Sea, and Realmspace simply ceasing to exist along with Voidharrow after Tharizdun's demise, they'd learn their lesson." Kuro noted.

"We shouldn't worry so much," Taana reassured everyone. "If the Voidharrow rears its ugly head, I'm sure Lord Ainz will be ready for it."

This was met with general agreement from everyone.

"Okay, looks like we're all ready for tomorrow." Drau declared. "So let's call it a night for now. We want to be well rested for the trip."

This was met with a round of affirmatives and soon the party was dispersing to their rooms for the night. Drau brought up the rear to make sure everyone obeyed. What they did do in their rooms wasn't her business of course, but well a leader could only do so much.

_Let's just hope that if Yorha and Kuro decided to go at it tonight they keep it down._ Drau decided as she made it into her room next to the couple's. _These walls are thin and I'd like a good night's sleep, thank you very much._

* * *

They next day, and after a rather exhausting night of babysitting Grimfal and very little sleep thanks to his very enthusiastic parents, Drau stood just behind Yorha as the party formed up in front of the naturally occuring portal to Sigil that had been recently discovered while a tunnel was dug between Undercliff and the rest of Waterdeep.

"Everyone ready?" She asked one last time.

A series of affirmatives reached her ears and she smiled and turned to Yorha and a human form Kuro at the head of their formation.

"Guys, lead the way."

"Gladly," Yorha said with a smile as she and her lover stepped through the portal, her son riding on her shoulders as always.

Drau followed a moment later with Neia, Taana and Gaul bringing up the rear.

The other side of the portal was a narrow cobblestoned street flanked on either side by tightly packed houses with the strange sight of more city in place of a sky. That odd sight paled in comparison however to the being in the shape of a Human woman ensconced in sparkling blades, the infamous Lady of Pain herself standing next to the portal.

"Welcome," the ruler of Sigil greeted in a surprisingly pleasant voice. "Chosen of Ainz Ooal Gown to my city."

"Thank you for the gracious welcome, my Lady." Drau said diplomatically ignoring the shocked looks the natives were shooting her and her family or the worried ones her party wore. "To what do we owe the honor of such a welcome?"

"You are my Brother's Chosen," the Lady of Pain said with a shrug. "Welcoming you is the least I can do."

_Brother? Father is her brother? This is the first I heard of this._

"Though if you would be so kind, might you do your Aunt a favor?" The Lady said with a smile.

"It would be my pleasure," Drau said with a hesitant smile.

If the Lady of Pain saw her unease, she chose to ignore it and continued in the same sweet welcoming voice she'd maintained thus far.

"Please do invite your Father to visit me." The Lady of Pain said with an almost shy smile. "I would very much like to know my newest Brother."

Drau was thoroughly confused by what the enigmatic being before her meant so she simply nodded.

"I'll contact him right away."

"Oh, there's no rush. Do it on your own time. In the meantime, please enjoy your time here in Sigil and if you need anything I am but a thought away."

With that the Lady of Pain disappeared, leaving Drau and her party to look at each other in confusion.

* * *

A day after receiving an invitation supposedly from the Lady of Pain herself via a confused Drau, Ainz stepped through a portal to the City of Doors. As he stepped out into the plaza on the other side however, he could only blink in shock at seeing not only his hostess but also Lord Ao. That and a massive crowd of confused and awed onlookers which included Ainz's own Chosen.

"Welcome, Brother." The Lady of Pain said with a welcoming bow before she nudged Lord Ao.

The Overgod rolled his eyes but nevertheless stepped forward. "Welcome to the rank of Overgod, Ainz."

Lord Ao's statement caused gasps and other demonstrations of shock to escape from the crowd. Ainz almost joined them but thankfully his undead emotional limiter and an odd sense of the rightness of those words dispelled his shock.

Instead, he just sighed as he finally realized what the power he gained when he defeated Tharizdun meant.

"Must you be so dramatic Ao?" Ainz asked. "Couldn't we have done this by you simply visiting me in Nazarick?"

"Then I couldn't offer you my congratulations, Brother." The Lady of Pain chimed in. "I can't leave Sigil."

"That and I wanted to return the favour." Ao said with a smirk. "When I attained the rank Yog Sothoth threw the grandest feast in a thousand multiverses to celebrate the occasion. Compared to that this is tame."

"He's right you know." The Lady of Pain agreed. "When it was my turn, Azathoth herself threw a celebration in my honor."

Ainz didn't know who those two other Overgods were beyond some dim recollections about some horror writer from the early twentieth century but the way Ao and the Lady of Pain was talking about them was already giving him a headache.

_Dealing with them will be a pain. This whole thing is going to a pain, isn't it?_

Clearly having read his thoughts, the two other Overgods just smirked at him and all Ainz Ooal Gown could do was groan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Done!
> 
> Hope you guys liked the story.
> 
> In hindsight, I'm too sure I really liked how this story turned out. It just sounded so much better in my head than it is now. That said, I'm not completely unhappy with it. I very much enjoyed writing most of it. It's just that I think it could be better. Mayhaps if it was in the hands of a better writer? Shrug.
> 
> Well, that's it from me. Till my next project ha det!


End file.
